[miningmx.com] – BHP Billiton must raise up to $10bn through a sale of its shares to investors in order to preserve its credit rating, said Bloomberg News in a report republished on BDLive.
Citing the view of Liberum Capital analyst, Richard Knights, the newswire said that if current prices for minerals and metals remained low a short fall in cash would develop.
Raising $5bn to $10bn would fill the shortfall in cash flow and help BHP retain its A+ credit rating at Standard & Poor’s and its A1 rating at Moody’s Investor Service, said Knights in a report.
“Slashing capital expenditure and even cutting its dividend to zero are not sufficient for BHP to realistically retain a “solid A’ credit rating, if spot commodity prices and currencies persist,” said Knights.
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