S&P cuts rating on Sharp to junk status

Standard & Poor's cut its credit rating on Sharp Corp to junk status Friday, following huge losses at the struggling Japanese consumer electronics giant. The global ratings agency downgraded Sharp two notches to BB+ and warned the Osaka-based firm was beset by weak cash flow and "deteriorating" market conditions. The move was S&P's second downgrade on Sharp in less than a month, and the first time a major ratings agency has cut the company's rating to non-investment grade.
"Sharp's liquidity position has weakened, and the company is highly dependent on short-term borrowings in light of weak internal cash flow and a less favourable funding environment," S&P said in a statement. "We may consider lowering the ratings if Sharp's earnings in (the year to March 2013) and prospects for its recovery deteriorate even further or the company's financing environment and relationships with credit banks and strategic partners worsen," S&P warned.
Sharp shares plummeted nearly 13 percent to 198 yen before the downgrade Friday on uncertainty about the future of a deal that would see Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision invest about $800 million in the Japanese firm. Also Friday, Dow Jones Newswires reported that Sharp, which makes a range of consumer products including Aquos brand electronics, had yet to start mass producing screens for Apple's next iPhone.
S&P said it expected Sharp's fortunes to improve in the second half of the fiscal year to March 2013, but added that its current rating was based on sealing the deal with Hon Hai, which makes Apple gadgets in China. "The ratings also incorporate assumptions that major creditor banks continue to provide Sharp with stable financing and the company does not face serious concerns in refinancing its debt," it added.
Sharp said it lost about $1.76 billion in the April-June quarter while warning of a bigger-than-expected full-year loss. In a bid to save its bleeding balance sheet, the company has announced a huge overhaul that could see it cut about 15 percent of its 57,000-strong global workforce, its first layoffs since 1950. Sharp, which has seen its mainstay television, liquid crystal display and solar panel products struggle, said the job reductions were part of a bid to cut annual fixed costs by 100 billion yen ($1.27 billion) to shore up its dented balance sheet. The company's shares dived to a four-decade low earlier this month with investors wiping around $1.0 billion off its market value in just one day following the release of its dismal financial results.