Nokia’s credit rating cut as rival HTC overtakes
MOBILE phone group Nokia suffered two big knocks yesterday after Taiwanese rival HTC overtook the firm in terms of market value and Moody’s cut its credit rating.
HTC’s shares rose 5.3 per cent to value the firm at $33.8bn in Taipei trading, surpassing Nokia’s $33.6bn valuation in a sign of the Finnish giant’s changing fortunes as newer firms eat into its market share.
Meanwhile Moody’s said Nokia’s weakening market position and uncertainty over its transition to Microsoft’s Windows Phone software had led to the credit downgrade.
The ratings agency said it was lowering its rating on Nokia’s senior debt to A3 from a previous A2. The agency also cut the company’s short-term debt ratings to Prime-2 from Prime-1, and said the outlook was negative.