Global push puts Ajinomoto at risk of further downgrade

Singapore

AJINOMOTO Co's global acquisitions push has drawn a warning of a further credit rating downgrade, as sales of monosodium glutamate flag in Japan.

The maker of food seasonings was cut by one level to A+ in December by Standard & Poor's after its debt-funded US$800 million purchase of the US frozen food producer Windsor Quality Holdings LP.

Ajinomoto may have room to spend US$1 billion more on such deals before a ranking review is warranted, S&P said. Its 1.89 per cent notes due September 2020 have lost 0.43 per cent this year, versus a 0.16 per cent drop in local corporate bonds, Bank of America Merrill Lynch data show.

Faced with a falling population at home, Ajinomoto is trying to expand abroad, aiming to generate 60 per cent of its operating profit from overseas by fiscal 2016 from 52 per cent in 20…