UPDATE: S&P Moves Outlook on Time Warner Cable (TWC) to Negative

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services today said it affirmed its 'BBB' corporate credit rating on New York City-based Time Warner Cable Inc. (TWC) and removed all ratings on the company from CreditWatch, where we placed them with positive implications on Feb. 13, 2015. The outlook is negative.

"The ratings affirmation follows Comcast's dropped $45 billion bid to acquire TWC," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Michael Altberg.

The negative rating outlook reflects our view that there is still the potential for TWC to engage in industry consolidation, which could potentially pressure ratings if leverage increases from current levels.

We could lower the rating if a deterioration in operating performance or shift in financial policy pushes leverage above 3.25x on a sustained basis. In addition, a multi-notch downgrade could occur under the scenario of a potential merger with a lower-rated entity that materially increases leverage above 4x.

We could revise the outlook to stable if we become more convinced that the company will continue to operate on a standalone basis. Longer term, an upgrade would require material deleveraging to below 2x on a sustained basis. We believe this is unlikely based on the company's historical financial policy.

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