Standard & Poor’s has cut its long-term corporate credit rating for YRC Worldwide Inc. from “CC” to “SD,” per a news item filed by the Associated Press.
An SD rating, which stands for selective default, indicates a corporation has failed to pay one or more of its financial obligations when they came due while a CC rating means a company is highly vulnerable, according to S&P.
According to the AP report, analyst Anita Ogbara stated in a note to investors that YRC completed a financial restructuring by exchanging a portion of its secured debt and other obligations for equity. “We view this as a distressed exchange and thus a default,” she wrote.
YRC issued $100 million in new convertible notes and replaced its existing asset-backed securitization facility with a new three-year, $400-million asset-backed loan, according to Ogbara. Maturity dates on a credit agreement and pension payments were deferred until March 2015, and the pension payments had been deferred previously, her note pointed out.
YRC earlier this month said it had secured commitments for the asset-based loan facility, noted the AP report, and was considered a “key step” in its effort to improve liquidity.
