S&P cuts Weatherford, notes, loans; rates notes B+

S&P said it lowered its corporate credit rating on Weatherford International plc to B+ from BB-.

The outlook is negative.

At the same time, the agency downgraded its issue-level ratings on the company's secured notes and its senior unsecured guaranteed credit facilities to BB from BB+. The recovery rating remains 1, reflecting an estimate of very high (90% to 100%) recovery to creditors in the event of a payment default.

S&P also lowered its issue-level ratings on the company's senior unsecured debt to B+ from BB-. The recovery rating remains 3, reflecting an estimate of meaningful (50% to 70%, lower half of the range) recovery to creditors in the event of a payment default.

In addition, the agency assigned a B+ issue-level rating and 3 recovery rating (50% to 70%, lower half of the range) to the company's new $500 million senior unsecured notes due 2024.

"The downgrade reflects our revised free operating cash flow estimates for Weatherford following weaker-than-anticipated cash inflows in the third quarter," S&P credit analyst Carin Dehne-Kiley said in a news release.

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