S&P cuts ATCO, subsidiary

S&P said it downgraded the issuer ratings on ATCO Ltd. and its subsidiary Canadian Utilities Ltd. by a notch to BBB+ from A-, lowered ATCO’s subordinated debt to BBB- from BBB, preferred shares to BBB- from BBB and trimmed Canadian Utilities’ senior unsecured debt to BBB from BBB+ and preferred shares to BBB- from BBB.

Concurrently, the agency affirmed the A- ratings on Canadian Utilities’ operating subsidiary CU Inc. and its senior unsecured debt.

“The downgrade reflects continued weakness in financial performance over the past few years, which we expect to persist due to a challenging regulatory environment and economic conditions within the company's core service territory, Alberta, Canada, resulting in lower cash flows from operations. Moreover, ATCO's operating utility CUI, collected lower rates for 2021 due to the implementation of an interim customer rate relief program in Alberta,” S&P said in a press release.

The outlook is stable.

© 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.