Moody’s Investors Service has released its latest credit trends report for Asia Pacific, saying the ratings outlook for non-financial corporates in the region and Australia is stable. Moody’s said that at the end of June, the share of ratings with a stable outlook in the Asia Pacific corporate portfolio was 83 per cent – a similar level to a year ago. In Australia and New Zealand, the proportion of ratings with a stable outlook increased from 90 per cent at the end March to 95 per cent at the end of June. The proportion with a negative outlook fell from 7 per cent to 2 per cent over the same period. During the June quarter Moody’s upgraded three Australian non-financial companies and downgraded three. The upgrades were in the construction and engineering, metals and mining and telecommunications industries. The downgrades were in the healthcare and consumer services industries. At the end of June, the metals and mining industry had the highest number of companies with negative ratings in Australia – at 8 per cent. Moody’s said this reflected falling profit margins for nickel miners following an increase in supply from Indonesia and falling demand. Moody’s forecasts for Australia include GDP growth of 1.5 per cent for 2023, down from 3.7 per cent last year, and maintenance of tightening policy by the Reserve Bank.