GE (GE) Issues Statement On S&P Rating Cut to AA+, "This Review and Rating Reaffirm the Relative Strength of the Company"
Up)
GE (NYSE: GE) issued a statement after Standard & Poor's announced a downgrade of General Electric Company's and General Electric Capital Corporation's (GECC) long-term ratings from AAA to AA+, with a "stable" outlook.
GECC is one of the only financial services companies in the world with a rating as high as AA+. S&P defines a company with this rating as having a "very strong capacity to meet its financial commitments." Also, S&P's "stable" outlook means the rating is unlikely to change in the next six months to two years.
GE does not anticipate any significant operational or funding impacts from this change. The Company has taken steps to strengthen its balance sheet and liquidity position, including building $48 billion in cash, raising over 90% of its 2009 long-term debt needs, and lowering its commercial paper to $60 billion from $88 billion in third quarter 2008. GE will provide a detailed update on GE Capital at a March 19 investor meeting.
GE Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt said, "As we have previously said, we are prepared to fund the Company as a Double-A, but we will continue to run GE with the disciplines of a Triple-A company, which means low leverage, high liquidity and strong risk disciplines. While no one likes a downgrade, this review and rating reaffirm the relative strength of the Company."
Here are details on the S&P downgrade.
Shares of GE are currently up 3.5% to $8.78.
GECC is one of the only financial services companies in the world with a rating as high as AA+. S&P defines a company with this rating as having a "very strong capacity to meet its financial commitments." Also, S&P's "stable" outlook means the rating is unlikely to change in the next six months to two years.
GE does not anticipate any significant operational or funding impacts from this change. The Company has taken steps to strengthen its balance sheet and liquidity position, including building $48 billion in cash, raising over 90% of its 2009 long-term debt needs, and lowering its commercial paper to $60 billion from $88 billion in third quarter 2008. GE will provide a detailed update on GE Capital at a March 19 investor meeting.
GE Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt said, "As we have previously said, we are prepared to fund the Company as a Double-A, but we will continue to run GE with the disciplines of a Triple-A company, which means low leverage, high liquidity and strong risk disciplines. While no one likes a downgrade, this review and rating reaffirm the relative strength of the Company."
Here are details on the S&P downgrade.
Shares of GE are currently up 3.5% to $8.78.
You May Also Be Interested In
- General Electric (GE) Makes $300M Investment in Large Brazilian Conglomerate
- GE Invests US$ 300 Million in EBX
- Nomura Securities Maintains a 'Buy' on General Electric (GE); Addressing Our Retail Finance Mix Fix Idea
Create E-mail Alert Related Categories
Corporate News, Hot ListRelated Entities
Standard & Poor'sSign up for StreetInsider Free!
Receive full access to all new and archived articles, unlimited portfolio tracking, e-mail alerts, custom newswires and RSS feeds - and more!
