Rating agencies assess the creditworthiness of issuers and assign them what is known as a credit rating. The rating agencies talk regularly to the companies they rate to obtain information on their strategy and business planning. This information, together with the agencies’ own quantitative analyses, form the basis for their credit ratings. The ratings published by independent rating agencies help lenders assess the risk inherent in financial instruments. For companies seeking to raise funds in the capital markets by issuing bonds, commercial paper or other debt instruments a rating from two internationally recognised agencies is supportive.
For many years, Bayer has had its creditworthiness assessed by Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s. Our strategy is to structure our corporate financing in such a way that we maintain credit ratios which support a rating in the "single A" rating category and thus offer bond investors a reliable and stable investment in a diversified global corporation.
Rating agency | Long-term rating | Short-term rating | Outlook | Last Update |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Standard & Poor’s | A- | A-2 | stable | December 1, 2011 |
Moody's | A3 | P-2 | stable | December 16, 2011 |
The rating explicitly reflects an assessment of the potential risk that a company will not be able to meet the payment obligations relating to debt instruments it has issued (interest and repayment of the principal). The better the rating, the lower the risk is considered to be. Since lenders expect to receive higher interest payments in return for exposure to higher risks, a company with a very good credit rating other circumstances being equal can raise debt capital on more favorable terms than one with a lower rating. Each rating comes with an outlook, indicating to investors the direction in which the agency believes the rating might move in the future.
Standard & Poor's | Marketa Horkova |
Moody's | Elena Nadtotchi |
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