S&P affirms CSX

Standard & Poor's said it affirmed its ratings, including its BBB corporate credit rating on CSX Corp.

The outlook is stable.

The rating affirmation follows the company's announcement that its board of directors has authorized the repurchase of up to $2 billion of stock by the end of 2008, the agency said.

According to S&P, CSX is expected to continue to benefit from healthy market demand, favorable pricing and targeted investment spending over the near to intermediate term.

Ratings on CSX reflect its strong competitive position as one of the two large eastern U.S. freight railroads, the favorable characteristics of the North American freight railroad industry, which include limited cyclicality, high barriers to entry and access to low-cost equipment financing and its solid financial risk profile, the agency said.

Offsetting these strengths, to some extent, is price competition from other railroads and trucking companies and the capital intensity of the industry, S&P noted.

© 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.