Moody’s could drop Kawasaki Kisen

Moody's Japan K.K. said it placed the Ba2 corporate family rating of Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (K-Line) under review for downgrade.

"The decision to place K-Line's rating under review for downgrade primarily reflects Moody's expectation of weaker than expected profitability for the fiscal year ending March 2016 (FYE3/2016) due to a very challenging operating environment, especially in the company's containership and dry bulk segments. We expect that this situation will be protracted and lead to sustained higher leverage than is appropriate for the company's rating, in the absence of other near-term mitigating counter-measures by K-Line," Moody's vice president and senior analyst Kailash Chhaya said in a news release.

"Our expectation of weaker profits and sustained higher leverage will reduce the headroom within K-Line's current rating, given that its leverage is already at a high level and could well deteriorate further."

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