美国仪器零售商吉他中心将其债券信用评级从“稳定”降级到“消极”。评级变更由评级机构穆迪制造，这指出，尽管零售商最近，吉他中心仍在偿还太多债务。
Moody’s vice president and lead analyst for Guitar Center, Raya Sokolyanska, said of the change: “While Guitar Center has reported modest growth in comparable sales and EBITDA over the past three years, and is a solid operator with a leading position in the niche musical instruments space, leverage remains high and cash flow is limited even after two distressed exchanges.”
Retail specialist website Retail Dive offered the following analysis on the downgrade: “Profits before interest and taxes are growing, if slowly, and Moody’s noted projections of comparable sales growth in the low to mid-single digits, which is better than a lot of the retail world. But still, the firm noted that is not enough to reduce Guitar Center’s debt load over the next 12 to 18 months. Moreover, the company is heavily dependent on its asset-based revolver ‘and will have limited remaining availability in the peak seasonal borrowing period,’ according to Moody’s.”
零售潜水还指出，目前的债务是“超过十年的杠杆收购的持久性。零售商首次被私募股权公司贝恩首都收购，然后ARES管理层于2014年控制旨在减少吉他中心债务的交易。“
WSJ破产也对这种情况进行了评论，旨在鉴于音乐仪器零售业的性质，吉他中心可能面临另一个债务重组，并且难以低利润/高成本业务在服务债务方面。
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