S&P lowers Transocean

Standard & Poor's said it lowered Transocean Inc. long-term corporate credit rating to BBB from BBB+ and the short-term corporate credit rating to A-3 from A-2, and removed the ratings from CreditWatch, where they were placed with negative implications on June 8.

The outlook is negative.

"The rating actions reflect our opinion of the difficulties the company faces as a result of the blowout of the Macondo well in April 2010 and weak contracting conditions in the offshore drilling industry," S&P analyst Lawrence Wilkinson said in a statement.

Ratings reflect a strong business profile stemming from the company's leadership position in the global offshore contract drilling industry and an intermediate financial profile, the agency said.

Ratings also reflect uncertainties regarding the company's exposure to liabilities stemming from the Macondo well blowout and expectations of continued margin erosion due to industrywide excess rig capacity, the agency 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.