Moody's cut Sony Corp.'s (NYSE: SNE) long-term ratings from A2 to A3 today. Slowing growth, price declines, and a strong yen were given as the reasons.
The company expects a second consecutive year of losses and is getting ready to kick off a restructuring plan. Nonetheless, the credit rating agency doesn't expect the Japanese electronics firm to overcome the effects of the global financial crisis -- especially for high-end, high-margin products.
Year-to-date for March, Sony anticipates an operating loss of $1.2 billion, which is approximately half its loss from the same period lass year. JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) analyst Yoshiharu Izumi sees this as a positive sign. Further, operating losses this year will result mainly from restructuring charges.
Sony is the latest electronics exporter to be downgraded by Moody's, along with NEC (OTC: NIPNF) and Toshiba (OTC: TOSBF).
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