Photo by: Bloombeg
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The ASX share price of mining major BHP Billiton stumbled on Tuesday, after rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) lowered its credit ratings for the miner from an A+ to an A.
The ratings on BHP’s senior secured notes were also lowered from an A+ to an A, while the subordinate notes were lowered from A- to BBB+.
BHP in January warned of a $4.9-billion post tax impairment for the half-year ended December, driven by the declining value of its onshore US oil and gas assets.
The impairment was expected to reduce the onshore US net operating assets to about $16-billion.
BHP on Tuesday noted that the company had also been placed on ‘CreditWatch with negative implications’, which S&P would resolve after the company’s half-year results were released.
BHP maintained that the company had the strongest credit rating in the sector, and remained committed to maintaining its strong balance sheet throughout the commodity cycle.
BHP shares closed at a low of A$14.90 a share on Tuesday, down from a high of A$15.20 a share.