Moody's: Centene notes Ba2

Moody's Investors Service said it assigned a provisional Ba2 senior unsecured debt rating to Centene Corp.'s shelf registration and a Ba2 senior unsecured debt rating to the company's issuance of $250 million of six-year senior notes.

The outlook is stable.

The proceeds will be used to finance the early redemption of its $175 million 7¼% notes due in 2014 and for general corporate purposes.

Moody's noted that with the additional debt, Centene's financial leverage is expected to remain below 30%.

The rating is based primarily on the company's concentration in the Medicaid market, acquisitive nature and moderate level of financial leverage, the agency said.

The ratings are offset by its multi-state presence, expansion into other health care product opportunities, relatively stable financial profile and adequate capitalization, Moody's said.

The ratings also reflect concerns with respect to the level of reimbursements to Medicaid managed care companies as states fall under budgetary and political pressures, the agency said.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.