Moody's may up NorthWestern debt

Moody's Investors Service said it placed NorthWestern Corp.'s Ba1 senior secured debt issues under review for possible upgrade.

The action affects five issues that are secured by first mortgage bonds. NorthWestern's Ba1 corporate family rating, its senior unsecured bank credit facility rated Ba2 and its SGL-2 speculative grade liquidity rating are unaffected.

The review reflects improving financial performance and reduced business risk that results from a narrowed focus on core regulated utility operations since the company's emergence from bankruptcy in October 2004. The improving financial performance reflects effective cost control, significant debt reduction and refinancing of higher cost debt.

Although NorthWestern still faces some unfinished challenges relating to energy supply, a regulatory rate review in Montana, class action lawsuits and an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company has made enough progress to temper the level of its concerns about these challenges, the agency added.

© 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.