S&P lowers General Maritime outlook to negative

Standard & Poor's said it revised its outlook on General Maritime Corp. to negative from stable.

The agency said it affirmed the BB long-term corporate credit rating.

The outlook revision reflects the shipping company's aggressive financial policy, characterized by share repurchases and material dividend payouts, despite reduced earnings, S&P noted, adding that management stated in its 2007 earnings release that the company will continue to pay out dividends at the targeted level of $2 per share, pursue further share repurchases and "draw upon [its] consolidation success to seek opportunities to further grow [the] fleet."

Ratings on General Maritime reflect the company's aggressively leveraged financial profile, shareholder-friendly policies and participation in the capital-intensive, highly fragmented, volatile and competitive shipping industry, S&P added.

© 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.