International credit rating agency Standard & Poor's has announced that it has lowered the long-term corporate credit rating of
Germany-based steel giant
ThyssenKrupp AG to 'BB' from 'BB+', affirming the outlook as negative.
The agency said the reason behind the downgrade is continued losses in the group's Steel Americas business, adding that the potential disposal of Steel Americas has not been taken into consideration since it is not clear whether it will be easy to sell due to loss-making and the weak market environment.
S&P stated that the negative outlook reflects the possibility that it could lower the ratings in the next 12 months if it believed
ThyssenKrupp had made limited progress toward the divestment of its Steel Americas business and its performance had not improved significantly.