Moody's downgrades Met Opera's credit rating

New York

THE Metropolitan Opera's decision to once again use its monumental Chagall murals as collateral for loans was one of the factors Moody's Investors Service cited when it downgraded the company's credit rating, noting the company's "weakened financial profile".

The ratings downgrade was the latest evidence of the financial travails of the Met, the United States' largest performing arts organisation: The company, which won concessions from its unions last summer after a bitter labour battle, ran an estimated US$22 million deficit last year - one of its biggest on record - and has faced box office struggles in recent years.