Boeing exploring potential asset sales - WSJ

Investing.com -- Boeing (NYSE:BA ) is exploring potential sales of its assets as part of a bid to shore up its finances, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Citing people familiar with the matter, the WSJ said the aerospace giant is particularly looking at possibly offloading noncore or underperforming sections of the business.

Executives quizzed division heads and reviewed the state of various divisions at a recent meeting at Boeing's Virginia headquarters, the WSJ added.

The report comes as Boeing is pushing to bring an end to a protracted strike by workers in the US Pacific Northwest, which has strained the group's already stretched financial situation, placed its credit rating in jeopardy of falling into junk territory, and halted production on some of its top-selling jets.

Over the weekend, Boeing and the union representing the roughly 33,000 workers announced that the employees would vote on a revamped labor deal on Wednesday. New Boeing Chief Executive Kelly Ortberg missed a key annual industry gala in Manhattan last week because he was busy hashing out a fresh agreement with the union, the WSJ said.

Shares in Boeing rose in premarket US trading on Monday, with analysts optimistic that the workers will vote to bring an end to the strike.

Ortberg told employees earlier this month that "tough decisions," such as structural changes, will be needed to bolster the performance of the wider group and ensure its long-term competitiveness.

Last week, Boeing filed a registration statement with the US markets regulator that will allow it to raise up to $25 billion via a mixture of debt securities and other classes of stock. In the filing, the embattled planemaker did not say when or exactly how much it will raise through the offering, although media reports have suggested that a share sale could come before the end of the year due to impending debt maturities.

The company also announced it had secured a $10 credit line from banks including JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM ), Bank of America, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs. Boeing has previously said it will book a $5 billion loss in the third quarter, and unveiled job cuts amounting to 10% of its global headcount.

Source: Investing.com