Moody's places Boeing ratings on review for downgrade

Moody's Investors Service on Tuesday said it was considering downgrading Boeing's "Baa2" senior unsecured rating and "Prime-2" short-term rating. "Placing the ratings on review for downgrade follows Moody's belief that Boeing will be unable to deliver 737 narrow-body aircraft at the volumes required for it to materially expand its free cash flow and retire debt in a reasonable timeframe," the agency said. The Baa2-backed long-term revenue bond and VMIG 2-backed short-term revenue bond, issued by the Miami-Dade County Industrial Development Authority, were also placed on review for downgrade. The US planemaker has been wrestling with a growing crisis following a January mid-air panel blowout on a 737 MAX plane that resulted in a shakeup among its top management on Monday. Boeing referred to a comment last week from CFO Brian West who said, “The path to stable financials is a stable factory and that's what we're focused on right now.”<br/>