NEW YORK—Moody’s Investor Services lowered its long-term rating of Qwest Communications International Inc. and fully guaranteed Qwest Capital Funding from Baa2 to Baa3; its long-term rating for Qwest Corp. from A3 to Baa2; and the short-term ratings for both Qwest Capital and Qwest Corp. from P-2 to P-3. All ratings were also put on review for possible further downgrade.
Moody’s said the downgrades reflected concerns about Qwest’s ability to resolve “substantial near-term debt maturities,” including the need to negotiate a covenant waiver under its $4 billion bank facility and repay $850 million of maturing long-term debt in July.
The downgrades are expected to make it more difficult for Qwest to attain additional investments.
