S&P cuts some Ardagh Glass notes

Standard & Poor's said it revised the outlook on Ardagh Glass Group plc and Ardagh Glass Holdings Ltd. to stable from negative and affirmed their B+ long-term corporate credit ratings.

The agency also lowered the senior secured issue rating to BB- from BB and revised the recovery rating from 1 to 2 and the senior unsecured issue rating to B- from B and revised the recovery rating from 5 to 6.

The rating on the payment-in-kind notes due 2015 was affirmed at B- and the recovery rating remains at 6.

S&P assigned a BB- issue rating a recovery rating of 2 to the proposed senior secured notes and a B- issue rating and a recovery rating of 6 to the proposed senior unsecured notes.

The outlook is stable.

"Our rating action follows Ardagh's announcement that it intends to acquire Impress Holdings BV, a Netherlands-based global provider of metal packaging," S&P analyst Izabela Listowska said in a statement.

Ratings remain constrained by the group's highly leveraged financial risk profile, sensitivity to volatile input costs and relatively high capital intensity, and by its very aggressive financial policy, the agency noted.

These negative factors are partly offset by Ardagh's satisfactory business risk profile, its leading market positions, long-standing relationships with customers and good profitability, S&P said.

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