US Companies Scrambling to Cope With Surging Interest Rate Costs

As the Federal Reserve signals it will likelytighten the money supply further, corporate treasurers are scrambling to cope with the impact of more than a year of central bank rate hikes, taking steps like cutting costs and paying down debt.

Interest costs at US companies rose by 22% in the first quarter compared to a year earlier, soon after the Federal Reserve started raising rates, according to a recent survey of about 1,700 businesses by Calcbench Inc., a data provider.

Electronics giant Apple Inc. and telecom provider Verizon Communications Inc. are among the corporations that have seen their ...