"Robert Smith, Gill Plimmer and Jim Pickard in London
5 HOURS AGO
Thames Water’s credit rating has been slashed to the lowest reaches of junk, as the company races to refinance £530mn of debt in the next 11 days to avoid collapsing into government-backed administration.
Both S&P and Moody’s cut the rating on Thames Water’s £16bn of top-ranking debt by five notches to the equivalent of CCC+ on Tuesday evening, a level that is considered highly risky and prone to default. Thames Water has to extend a £530mn credit facility from banks that falls due on October 7, if it is to stay within an updated forecast made last week of having enough cash to last into the new year."
FT.com