Lower Rating for Boart Reflects S&P’s Poor Gold, Copper, Iron Outlook

Mineweb reported that Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC has lowered its rating for drilling company Boart Longyear Ltd. (ASX:BLY) in part due to its view that gold, copper and iron prices will not improve this year or in 2015.

As quoted in the market news:

The credit ratings agency lowered Boast’s corporate credit rating from ‘B’ to ‘CCC+’ and lowered its issue level ratings on subsidiary Boart Longyear Management Pty Ltd.’s secured notes from ‘BB-‘ to ‘B’ and its senior unsecured notes from ‘B’ to ‘CCC+’.

‘The negative outlook reflects our view that Boart Longyear’s EBITDA will remain low and its leverage very high over the next 12 month, as stubbornly weak prices for many metals depress investment by miners,’ said S&P analysts James E. Fielding and Marie A. Shmaruk.

‘An upgrade is unlikely over the next 12 months given our expectation that gold, copper and iron ore prices will not improve in 2014 or 2015,’ said the analysts. ‘In this scenario, we would expect limited exploration investment by commodities miners and limited demand for Boart Longyear’s drilling services and products.’

Click here to read the full Mineweb report.