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. Companies seeking to raise funds on the capital market by issuing bonds, commercial paper or other debt instruments generally need to be rated by two internationally recognised agencies.
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 our stable “single A” rating from the rating agencies 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 | Outlook Stable | April 30, 2008 |
Moody's | A3 | P-2 | Outlook negative | August 17, 2007 |
The rating explicitly reflects an assessment of the potential risk that a company will not be able to meet the payment obligations relating to bonds it has issued (interest and repayment of the principal). The higher 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 can raise 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 | Olaf Tölke |
Moody's | Elena Nadtotchi |
