GM's Credit Downgraded to Junk Status

[Dallion]

Taken from http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/business/42914.html

A major rating agency declared billions of dollars of debt owed by General Motors (NYSE: GM) and Ford to be "junk," a blow that will increase borrowing costs for the nation's two biggest automakers.

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services downgraded the debt yesterday to below investment grade, or junk status, causing the automakers' stock to tumble on Wall Street and leading the overall market lower.

After falling 5.9 percent yesterday, GM shares rose 24 cents to US$31.10 in early dealing today on the New York Stock Exchange. Ford shares rose 7 cents in early trading on the NYSE after falling 4.5 percent a day earlier.


Another Obstacle
The two other major debt rating agencies, Moody's Investors Service and Fitch Ratings, still rate the debt of both GM and Ford as investment grade.

The companies said they disagreed with S&P's decision and said they face no cash crunch.

Still, it amounts to one more hit for the automakers. They are losing market share at home to Asian competitors, seeing sales soften for their most profitable models and facing enormous health care and post-retirement liabilities.

Declining SUV Sales
In the first four months of the year, GM's U.S. sales fell nearly 5 percent and Ford's sales declined 4.2 percent.

S&P said No. 1 General Motors (NYSE: GMH) and No. 2 Ford can no longer count on generating enormous profits from their sport utility vehicle lineups.

Besides higher gas prices, a key factor in slumping SUV sales is the proliferation of smaller, car-based utility vehicles called crossovers -- models available from most major automakers today.

"GM's financial performance has been heavily dependent on the profit contribution of its SUVs," said S&P credit analyst Scott Sprinzen. "Recently, though, sales of its mid-size and large SUVs have plummeted, and industry-wide demand has evidently stalled."

Higher Interest Rates
GM and Ford bonds also fell in value yesterday, and while the companies said they have no immediate need for large new debt sales, analysts said they can expect to pay substantially higher interest rates on funds they borrow in the future.

The numbers involved already are enormous: GM paid about $12 billion in interest on debt last year and Ford's tab totaled about $7.1 billion. GM's consolidated debt as of March 31 was $291.8 billion and Ford's totaled $161.3 billion, S&P said.

The move by S&P will force many institutional investors to reshuffle their portfolios, causing massive selling of GM and Ford bonds at a lesser value. That's because some institutions are banned from dealing in junk -- or high-yield -- bonds, an asset class known to trade with more volatility and greater risk of default than investment-grade securities.

Dealing with Competitive Disadvantage
S&P said its downgrade of GM's long-term debt reflects its conclusion that the current strategies of GM Chief Executive Rick Wagoner and his management team may not be effective in dealing with the automaker's competitive disadvantages. S&P also cited as concerns GM's European operations, which have been unprofitable since 1999, and weaker demand in what had been a sizzling Chinese market.

However, S&P noted GM should have no difficulty accommodating "near-term cash requirements." It also said GM's highly profitable GMAC finance arm still likely has "sufficient funding flexibility" to support GM even without an investment-grade rating.

In a statement, GM said it was disappointed with S&P's decision but that it and its finance arm have adequate cash and liquidity to fund their operations "for the foreseeable future."

GM said it had $19.8 billion in cash at the end of the first quarter, and GMAC had $18.5 billion in cash and securities. "Clearly, GM has many challenges in North America, but the company is moving aggressively to address these challenges," the company said.

© 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
© 2005 ECT News Network. All rights reserved.

[Dallion]

Taken from http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/business/42914.html


<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> A major rating agency declared billions of dollars of debt owed by General Motors (NYSE: GM) and Ford to be "junk," a blow that will increase borrowing costs for the nation's two biggest automakers.

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services downgraded the debt yesterday to below investment grade, or junk status, causing the automakers' stock to tumble on Wall Street and leading the overall market lower.

After falling 5.9 percent yesterday, GM shares rose 24 cents to US$31.10 in early dealing today on the New York Stock Exchange. Ford shares rose 7 cents in early trading on the NYSE after falling 4.5 percent a day earlier.


Another Obstacle
The two other major debt rating agencies, Moody's Investors Service and Fitch Ratings, still rate the debt of both GM and Ford as investment grade.

The companies said they disagreed with S&P's decision and said they face no cash crunch.

Still, it amounts to one more hit for the automakers. They are losing market share at home to Asian competitors, seeing sales soften for their most profitable models and facing enormous health care and post-retirement liabilities.

Declining SUV Sales
In the first four months of the year, GM's U.S. sales fell nearly 5 percent and Ford's sales declined 4.2 percent.

S&P said No. 1 General Motors (NYSE: GMH) and No. 2 Ford can no longer count on generating enormous profits from their sport utility vehicle lineups.

Besides higher gas prices, a key factor in slumping SUV sales is the proliferation of smaller, car-based utility vehicles called crossovers -- models available from most major automakers today.

"GM's financial performance has been heavily dependent on the profit contribution of its SUVs," said S&P credit analyst Scott Sprinzen. "Recently, though, sales of its mid-size and large SUVs have plummeted, and industry-wide demand has evidently stalled."

Higher Interest Rates
GM and Ford bonds also fell in value yesterday, and while the companies said they have no immediate need for large new debt sales, analysts said they can expect to pay substantially higher interest rates on funds they borrow in the future.

The numbers involved already are enormous: GM paid about $12 billion in interest on debt last year and Ford's tab totaled about $7.1 billion. GM's consolidated debt as of March 31 was $291.8 billion and Ford's totaled $161.3 billion, S&P said.

The move by S&P will force many institutional investors to reshuffle their portfolios, causing massive selling of GM and Ford bonds at a lesser value. That's because some institutions are banned from dealing in junk -- or high-yield -- bonds, an asset class known to trade with more volatility and greater risk of default than investment-grade securities.

Dealing with Competitive Disadvantage
S&P said its downgrade of GM's long-term debt reflects its conclusion that the current strategies of GM Chief Executive Rick Wagoner and his management team may not be effective in dealing with the automaker's competitive disadvantages. S&P also cited as concerns GM's European operations, which have been unprofitable since 1999, and weaker demand in what had been a sizzling Chinese market.

However, S&P noted GM should have no difficulty accommodating "near-term cash requirements." It also said GM's highly profitable GMAC finance arm still likely has "sufficient funding flexibility" to support GM even without an investment-grade rating.

In a statement, GM said it was disappointed with S&P's decision but that it and its finance arm have adequate cash and liquidity to fund their operations "for the foreseeable future."

GM said it had $19.8 billion in cash at the end of the first quarter, and GMAC had $18.5 billion in cash and securities. "Clearly, GM has many challenges in North America, but the company is moving aggressively to address these challenges," the company said.

© 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
© 2005 ECT News Network. All rights reserved.

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

[ckhagman]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Dallion:
Taken from http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/business/42914.html


<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> A major rating agency declared billions of dollars of debt owed by General Motors (NYSE: GM) and Ford to be "junk," a blow that will increase borrowing costs for the nation's two biggest automakers.


</div></BLOCKQUOTE> </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

The nation's 2 largest automakers??? There are only 2. Unless they have started calling AM General, Saleen, Avanti, etc. legitimate automakers.

[ckhagman]

Another reply from a different GM Financial question...

Personally I do not think it is a reason not to buy there products but more of a reason to do
so. The big three is gone even though everyone else thinks there are still
3 big auto companies in the US. Part of the problem in my mind is no matter
what GM does they always, always get slammed by the media. Lincoln brought
out the blackwood and Cadillac gets the EXT but they said too little too
late and then killed them in sales and still got no credit. The media
bashes the GMC Denali line saying why would you pay that much extra for the
same car, but not once have I ever read about the media bashing fords Eddie
Bauer line and it IS the same thing.

Much of GM's problem lie within the health care costs. Wagoneer said a
couple of weeks ago that he joined GM 28 years ago for his love of cars and
trucks but didn't realize that he would go on to become a health care
administrator. The healthcare costs are there big problem and probable the
fact that they have 2 many dealerships competing against each other, but the
health care remains the biggest problem.

Cadillac and HUMMER are there strongest brands but again the media does not
give them credit where it is due. The H3 will get 20 mpg. Compare that to
all the other SUV's in its class. The H3 was built on a modified frame
smaller than a GMC Envoy but is much bigger in size (based on pictures I've
seen) but yet get 5 more mpg than the Envoy. The media doesn't care until
we are all driving the same car.

I read within the past month that GM has $24-$26 billion in the bank from
last year. I do not know how this goes under reported but I did read it.
The author goes on to say GM needs to look towards acquisitions which the
read targets as Toyota or Honda. Some might think this is impossible but
anyone is for sale or willing to merge given the right price. Toyota and GM
are already partners on a couple of products so this is not taken out of the
air. I personally believe they should go after what they have been eyeing
for so long. BMW. Go in and take them. 1 person owns (actually 1 family)
the majority and given the figure of a couple billion in the bank it can go
a long way on a company not worth that much (BMW).

Chris

[Zing]

GM's got some challenges. Huge and growing pensions liabilities being among the biggest. But at the same time Kirk Kirkorian is bidding for a huge piece of GM for $31/share. And the government would intervene if things got really bad. They'll be ok long term.

[funpilot]

If 100% of the healthcare costs were the sole difference in price of vehicles and that were the only market place diferentiator, I would agree that their problem is healthcare costs. But, it really is a very minor problem. Quality and meeting consumer needs is their problem. If they had high quality and attractive products price increments due solely to healthcare would not put them in the mess they are in now. It is just an excuse. Look at me, this is my first new American vehicle ever. I am buying a vehicle I want and the price difference does not matter.

[Hart1]

Being a contrarian, I will be buying GM stock. I believe they will turn it around......

[ckhagman]

I probably should have checked what I wrote but it is true that healthcare is not the only problem but the media does have a tendency to bash them to hell no matter what they do. They are damned if they do and damned if they don't. Again the H3 gets 20mpg but that doesn't matter to them.

Hart1 I agree I would/will/am interested in the stock but... cost is a killer right now.