AIR NZ CREDIT RATING DOWNGRADED AFTER QUAKES

Air New Zealand’s credit rating outlook was lowered to ‘negative’ from ‘stable’ because of the Christchurch and Japanese earthquakes and escalating jet fuel prices. Moody’s affirmed Air New Zealand’s “Baa3” senior unsecured rating. The change “reflects the heightened operating uncertainty and incremental effects of recent earthquake events in Christchurch, New Zealand as well as Japan, on top of the already escalating price of jet fuel in recent months and which recently climbed in excess of US$130 a barrel,” said Ian Lewis, a Moody’s vice-president and senior credit officer. Last week, Air New Zealand issued a profit warning for the same