S&P lowers Survey Sampling, loans

S&P said it lowered the corporate credit rating on Survey Sampling International LLC (SSI) to B- from B.

The outlook is negative.

At the same time, the agency downgraded issue-level rating on the company's first-lien credit facility to B- from B. The 3 recovery rating is unchanged, indicating an expectation for meaningful recovery (50%-70%; rounded estimate: 60%) of principal in the event of a payment default.

S&P also lowered the issue-level rating on the second-lien loan to CCC from CCC+. The 6 recovery rating is unchanged and indicates an expectation for negligible recovery (0%-10%; rounded estimate: 5%) of principal in the event of a payment default.

"The downgrade reflects our expectation that the covenant margin of compliance on SSI's first-lien leverage ratio will decline to under 5% over the next 12 months," S&P credit analyst Thomas Hartman said in a news release.

"It also reflects our view that SSI's discretionary cash flow generation will remain below $10 million this year, and the company will have limited availability under the revolving credit facility due to a tight covenant margin of compliance."

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