Moody’s lowers Pearson to Baa2

Moody's Investors Service said it downgraded the long-term issuer rating of Pearson plc and the guaranteed senior unsecured ratings of its rated subsidiaries to Baa2 from Baa1.

The agency affirmed the guaranteed short-term rating of Pearson Holdings Inc. at Prime-2.

The outlook is stable. This concludes the review initiated on Jan. 22.

"Despite its strong liquidity, Pearson faces strong cyclical and policy-related headwinds in its key education markets that will continue to undermine operating performance," Gunjan Dixit, Moody's vice president and lead analyst for Pearson, said in a news release.

"The move to Baa2 recognizes the significant operating challenges Pearson faces as well as the expected weakening of the company's financial metrics in 2016. It also considers the risk of a delay in the profitability recovery that Pearson anticipates for 2017-18, if its restructuring program encounters execution risks or planned business growth is slow to materialize."

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.