BW Group Stays On Watch Negative Pending Financial Results And Company Information
| 2008/05/02 |
| Contact: |
Anshukant Taneja,
Singapore, (65) 6239-6340 |
RatingsDirect publication date: 30-Apr-2008
Disseminated from Standard & Poor's RatingsDirect:
http://www.ratingsdirect.com/
SINGAPORE--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said today its 'BBB-' long-term corporate credit rating and the issue rating on Singapore-based energy shipping company BW Group Ltd. (BW) remain on CreditWatch with negative implications, pending fiscal 2007 financial results and more detailed information from the company.
The ratings were placed on CreditWatch on Feb. 4, 2008, after the announcement on revisions in the Norwegian tax regime.
"We consider such tax liabilities to be priority obligations that have several debt-like features and normally take precedence over the other unsecured obligations of an entity," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst, Anshukant Taneja.
Furthermore, although the company's operating performance (for the nine-month period ended Sept. 30, 2007) has been on track, deviation from expected credit metrics occurred due to the US$400 million cash required for funding the APL acquisition, which was initially proposed as a cashless share-swap transaction.
"We expect to resolve the CreditWatch over the next four to six weeks, after incorporating BW's full-year results for fiscal 2007, along with greater clarity on the management's immediate plans to reduce debt and its future capital requirements," Mr. Taneja said. We expect these details to be available in the next few weeks.
"If the certainty of a prominent correction in the company's financial profile remains low, the rating on BW may be lowered by one notch," he noted.
Complete ratings information is available to subscribers of RatingsDirect, the real-time Web-based source for Standard & Poor's credit ratings, research, and risk analysis, at www.ratingsdirect.com. All ratings referenced herein can be found on Standard & Poor's public Web site at www.standardandpoors.com; select your preferred country or region, then Ratings in the left navigation bar, followed by Credit Ratings Search.
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| 1. S&P: BW Group Stays On Watch Negative Pending Financial Results And Company Information (2008/5/2) |
| 2. S&P: BW Group Ltd. And Debt Assigned 'BBB-' Ratings; Outlook Stable (2007/6/12) |