March 17 - Ford Motor Co. rose to a 5-year high in New York trading and its bonds gained after Moody’s Investors Service upgraded the automaker’s credit rating, reported Bloomberg. The company’s shares climbed 61 cents, or 4.5 percent, to $14.10 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, the highest close since Jan. 12, 2005. Its $1.8 billion of 7.45 percent notes due in 2031 rose 2.5 cents on the dollar to 92.5 cents, according to Trace, the bond-price reporting system of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Moody’s raised Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford’s corporate credit rating one step to B2, the fifth level below investment grade, from B3, according to a statement today from the New York-based ratings company. The upgrade also included the Ford Motor Credit finance unit and affects about $65 billion in debt. “Ford clearly has a much more robust and competitive business model,” Bruce Clark, Moody’s senior vice president, said in the statement. “The key issue we’re assessing is the degree to which this pace of improvement could be delayed by things like a slowdown in demand or an escalating use of incentives by competitors.” The ratings of Ford and Ford Motor Credit are on review for further upgrades, Moody’s said. “The stock trading up is just confirmation that Ford is doing all the right things,” said Shelly Lombard, a debt analyst at Gimme Credit LLC in New York. “Toyota is stumbling and GM still isn’t on track yet, which is all positive for Ford.”
Ford Shares Hit 5-Year High as Moody’s Raises Rating
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