S&P lowers Edwards

Standard & Poor's said it lowered the corporate credit ratings to B from B+ on Edwards Group Ltd.

The agency downgraded Edwards (Cayman Islands II) Ltd.'s $100 million supersenior revolving credit facility to BB- from BB with 1 recovery rating, $430 million first-lien term loan to B from BB- with recovery rating revised to 3 from 2 and $185 million second-lien payment-in-kind toggle loan to CCC+ from B- with 6 recovery rating.

Ratings were removed from CreditWatch, where they were placed with negative implications on Feb. 24.

The outlook is stable.

"The downgrades reflect our expectation that the global economic downturn will continue to negatively affect Edwards' revenues, operating margins and credit measures over 2009. We expect these pressures, combined with meaningful restructuring to align costs with falling demand, to result in negative free operating cash flow during 2009," S&P analyst Helen O'Toole said in a statement.

At March 31, lease-adjusted gross debt-to- EBITDA was about 5.8x and is likely to deteriorate further in the coming quarters on the back of declining revenues and weaker margins, the agency said.

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