S&P lowers Atwood view to stable

Standard & Poor’s said it revised the outlook to stable from positive on Atwood Oceanics Inc. and affirmed its BB corporate credit and senior unsecured debt ratings.

The recovery rating on the company’s senior unsecured notes is unchanged at 3, indicating 50% to 70% expected default recovery.

The outlook revision reflects revised expectations for growth and higher uncertainty in Atwood’s asset and cash flow base in the next three years due to difficult market conditions, S&P said.

The recent addition of new rigs to Atwood’s fleet, while supporting fleet quality, only offsets the forecast of lower day rates for uncontracted rigs in the next three years and the retirement of older assets, the agency said.

Nevertheless, Atwood is expected to maintain solid profitability measures and adequate credit ratios throughout the downturn given the company’s fleet quality and strong revenue backlog for the next 18 months, S&P 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.