Softbank Lashes Out at Moody's After Debt Downgrade

Softbank (OTC: SFTBF) reacted swiftly to its debt downgrade from Moody's. The Japanese conglomerate demanded that the ratings company remove all debt ratings on the company after Moody's downgraded Softbank's debt by two notches, sinking it deeper into junk territory.

Softbank has come under fire recently over its debt load, which has risen to more than 12.2 trillion yen ($109.5 billion). This worry sent Softbank stock plunging, until a recently announced plan to sell $41 billion in assets to pay down the debt sparked off a rally.

Nonetheless, what seemed to placate stock investors did not sway Moody's. Now, Softbank's debt rating stands at Ba3, down from Ba1. This followed a similar move by S&P Global earlier this month. S&P cut its outlook to negative on Softbank over plans for a stock buyback. Also, in December, Softbank reported its largest quarterly loss in 14 years.

Source Fool.com