S&P Downgrades Ultrapetrol (ULTR) to 'CC' Following Missed Interest Payments

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services lowered its corporate credit and issue-level ratings on Ultrapetrol (Bahamas) Ltd. (NASDAQ: ULTR) to 'CC' from 'B-'.

The downgrade reflects Ultrapetrol's announcement today that it failed to meet the $10 million interest payments on its senior notes due Dec. 15, 2015, and on the $6.5 million interest and principal payments on other loan facilities related to Ultrapetrol's river business. We haven't downgraded the company to 'D' because there is a likelihood that it could meet the payments within the 30-day cure period, depending on restructuring negotiations.

The CreditWatch negative listing reflects that we would lower the ratings to 'D' or 'SD' if Ultrapetrol doesn't make the payments in the cure period of 30 days. Also, if we consider the terms of the debt restructuring as distressed, it would also lead to a downgrade.

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