Moody's Investors Service Inc. and Standard & Poor's Corp. issued warnings Tuesday on their debt ratings for Hitachi Ltd. following the major electronics maker's downgraded fiscal 2001 earnings forecast announced last week.
Moody's lowered its outlook to negative from stable for its A2 rating on Hitachi's senior unsecured long-term debt, while S&P placed its A-plus long-term and A-1-plus short-term credit ratings on the company on credit watch "with negative implications."
The two major credit-rating agencies said their moves reflect concerns over Hitachi's performance amid a prolonged slump in the global electronics market.