(Photo: AP)
The good times are coming to an end in the corporate debt market, and this week's turmoil in General Electric Co. credit is a sign that things can get much worse.
That's what a growing chorus of money managers are saying. About half of the $5 trillion market for investment-grade bonds now resides in the lowest tier of ratings. Many investors fear that as global economic growth shows signs of slowing, the rosy assumptions built into companies' profit forecasts could prove wrong, and at least some of the lowest-rated high-grade debt may end up getting cut to junk.
Blue-chip company debt has been clobbered this week, and is on track for its worst year since 2008. One of the biggest whipping boys in corporate bond markets has been GE, which is facing weak demand for gas turbines, high debt levels and a federal accounting probe. Now investors are looking at other companies with big borrowings, including Anheuser-Busch InBev NV and Ford Motor Co., for any signs of fragility.
"GE is a harbinger for what's going to happen when large capital structures get downgraded," said Josh Lohmeier, head of U.S. investment-grade credit at Aviva Investors, which manages more than $480 billion. "It's going to be messy, and it's going to be painful."
Lohmeier isn't the only one flagging such risks. Guggenheim's Scott Minerd said Tuesday that GE's selloff is just the start of a " slide and collapse" in investment-grade credit. Jeffrey Gundlach, CEO of DoubleLine Capital LP, said corporate debt is the " most dangerous" part of the high-grade bond market. Distressed-debt investor Marc Lasry is eyeing an eventual sell-off in the investment-grade market for his next opportunities, including bonds sold by GE if they become even cheaper.
These are five other corporate borrowers that are on money managers' radars as the market weakens:
1. Anheuser-Busch InBev
Moody's Investors Service said last month that it may downgrade the world's biggest brewer, citing the company's large debt load. AB InBev's liabilities mushroomed as part of its 2016 acquisition of competitor SABMiller PLC, with borrowings equal to 5.4 times a measure of earnings known as Ebitda as of June 30. Moody's said it expected that metric to be closer to 4 times now.
To hit that target, the company would possibly have to fully suspend its dividend and reduce debt by $26 billion by the end of next year, Barclays PLC said in an Oct. 5 report. In late October, the company said it was cutting its dividend payout in half. Earlier this week, it said it was buying back up to $2.5 billion of bonds — a testament to the company's commitment to deleveraging, according to CreditSights.
Still, risk premiums on AB InBev's 4% notes due 2028 have surged to around 1.47 percentage points on Thursday from less than 1 percentage point in July.
2. Ford Motor
The only Detroit automaker to avoid bankruptcy during the financial crisis, Ford has since fallen out of favor as investors worry about how higher steel tariffs and slowing sales will weigh on its profits. The company's debt is trading like it's speculative-grade, even though it's rated one step above junk by Moody's and two steps by S&P Global Ratings. Ford says it's committed to maintaining investment-grade ratings, but investors fear the company could return to high-yield territory as it's fighting a " multiple-front war" including slowing sales growth in China and higher costs in the U.S. from global trade disputes.
3. Campbell Soup Co.
Campbell Soup more than doubled its debt load to nearly $10 billion with its acquisition of Snyder's-Lance Inc., pushing leverage to more than 5 times Ebitda. The company's deleveraging path has hit a few road bumps, with its CEO unexpectedly resigning in May and the company forecasting earnings well below analyst expectations. Facing a potential downgrade to junk, Campbell said it would pay down debt by selling assets. Moody's, which rates Campbell two steps above junk at Baa2, has removed its downgrade review from the company. But it changed the medium-term outlook on Campbell's rating to negative.
Activist investor Dan Loeb is pushing the company to overhaul its strategy, and is trying to gain seats on Campbell's board of directors. Risk premiums on the company's 4.8% bonds due 2048 have jumped to 2.53 percentage points, from 2.15 percentage points in September.
