Moody's downgrades BCE and Bell Canada to negative

TORONTO – Saying it expected Bell Canada Enterprises to dump – or to have already dumped – non-core assets, Moody’s Investors Service today changed the outlook of the long-term ratings assigned to both BCE and its Bell Canada division to negative from stable. “This action is prompted by Moody's belief that a number of key financial metrics may not improve sufficiently by the end of 2006 to support the current ratings. Moody's now believes that management may either not sell non-strategic assets to the extent previously expected, or a meaningful portion of asset sale proceeds, should they be realized, may...