S&P upgrades Starwood

Standard & Poor's said it raised Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc.'s corporate credit rating and senior unsecured debt to BB+ from BB. The recovery rating on the debt remains 3.

The outlook is stable.

The agency said the upgrade reflects the improving global lodging environment and S&P's belief that Starwood will reduce debt balances and leverage over the intermediate term and sustain credit measures in line with a BB+ rating.

The BB+ rating reflects the sensitivity of demand for Starwood's hotels to economic cycles, exposure to the performance of its largest owned hotels and to upper upscale and luxury lodging segments and aggressive share repurchases in past periods, S&P said.

The company's large, high-quality and geographically diversified hotel portfolio with many well-established brand names partially offsets these factors and positions Starwood well during the recovery, the agency said.

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