Fitch: State bond rating stays at AA+
Posted on November 17, 2009 at 8:34 amOn the day budget hearings started on Capitol Hill, Fitch Ratings lauded state officials’ “proactive approach to addressing the fiscal impact of the current downturn” and rated an upcoming $212 million bond sale at AA+, the state’s current rating.
permalink | Comment on this post
Financial milestone for Rutherford utility
Posted on November 11, 2009 at 9:10 amStandard & Poor’s has given the Consolidated Utility District of Rutherford County its first-ever AAA rating.
This AAA/Stable rating was awarded as CUCRC prepared for the sale of $15 million in 20-year bonds. The proceeds will help to refinance the utility’s previous debt which was used to improve its system which serves almost 43,000 customers in Rutherford County. The bond monies will also be used to provide additional capital for ongoing projects.
permalink | Comment on this post
Bredesen: State’s health reform tab could top $1 billion by 2015
Posted on October 6, 2009 at 3:21 pmOn a conference call today, Gov. Phil Bredesen said the latest version of health reform being discussed in D.C. looks like it will cost Tennessee between $570 million and $1.2 billion over the next five and a half years.
permalink | Comment on this post
Moody’s: Homebuilders will suck more wind
Posted on October 1, 2009 at 7:06 am
Not-so-happy thoughts from credit ratings group Moody’s on the state of the residential construction sector: The current economic climate looks set to extinguish the embers of hope and push home prices down further and longer than previously expected.
“We expect that the industry’s one relatively bright spot—that is, robust cash-flow generation—will keep fading in the year ahead, as inventory liquidation plays itself out and funds from operations remain negative,” Snider said. Moody’s base case calls for pre-impairment operating losses to worsen by 8% in 2009 and improve modestly, but still be in a loss position in 2010.
permalink | Comment on this post
Moody’s gets more positive on CCA
Posted on September 18, 2009 at 6:44 amMoody’s Investors Service says Corrections Corp. of America has a strong enough balance sheet and outlook to allow the debt ratings firm to begin thinking about a full-fledged upgrade.
Moody’s would expect to raise CCA’s rating should total assets reach $3.5 billion and revenues approach $2 billion without marked deterioration in its credit profile. Concurrently, CCA would need to maintain its dominance in the private corrections industry, without the sector losing its share relative to public operators.
Shares of CCA (Ticker: CXW) are up about 40 percent in 2009.
permalink | Comment on this post
Moody’s: No end yet to banks’ credit troubles
Posted on September 10, 2009 at 1:01 pmThe ratings agency this morning reiterated its negative rating on the banking sector, saying it does “not believe asset quality deterioration for the US banking industry has reached its peak.” Commercial real estate in will be a particular thorn in the side going forward, Moody’s analysts said.
permalink | Comment on this post
Insurance ratings group throws up its hands
Posted on August 27, 2009 at 10:56 amSaying the industry is simply in too much flux right now, A.M. Best, one of the most established insurance ratings agencies, has withdrawn a host of company ratings based only on publicly available data. Among the companies who are now ‘not formally followed’ are affiliates of HealthSpring as well as BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee and Ardent Health Services’ Lovelace Health Plan.
permalink | Comment on this post
When it comes to HCA, Fitch still looking at 2012
Posted on July 29, 2009 at 11:33 amIn rating a planned bond offering, the credit ratings agency says HCA is doing a nice job on the operations front, but says the more than $10 billion of debt that begins to come due in two years looms as large as ever.
SEE ALSO: HCA doubles bottom line
permalink | Comment on this post
Fitch: Healthcare Realty solid, but refis will have impact
Posted on July 28, 2009 at 1:38 pmCredit ratings group Fitch has affirmed its ratings of Healthcare Realty and affiliates and says there’s a lot to like about the company’s portfolio. But, it warns, the company will have to pay more when it refinances its unsecured credit line. For details on the company’s credit situation, click here and search for ‘January 2006.’
permalink | Comment on this post
Fitch: First Tennessee not out of the woods
Posted on June 30, 2009 at 12:59 pmCredit ratings group Fitch says First Tennessee, which in many ways got a headstart on dealing with last year’s banking crisis, still has a credit mess on its hands.
permalink | Comment on this post
Healthcare Realty outlook downgraded
Posted on June 11, 2009 at 11:47 amWhile it has affirmed its credit ratings and says the medical office market remains stable, Fitch says the potential for Healthcare Realty to use secured debt to pay down its unsecured credit line may lead to a downgrade. Shares of Healthcare Realty (Ticker: HR) are off about 1 percent today.
permalink | Comment on this post
Regions to raise $1.25B
Posted on May 20, 2009 at 8:33 am
The biggest bank in Middle Tennessee will sell $1 billion in common stock and $250 million in preferred shares that will convert to common by the end of 2010 at the latest. The move comes two weeks after the government’s stress test called on Regions (Ticker: RF) to find $2.5 billion in new capital and two days after Moody’s cut the bank’s credit rating with the following commentary.
Although Regions entered this period with relatively sound capital ratios — at March 31, 2009, Tier 1 risk-based was 10.41% and Moody’s adjusted tangible common equity (TCE) ratio was 7.77% - Moody’s believes Regions’ capital position is likely to be increasingly challenged by the substantial credit costs it faces.
Moody’s negative outlook on Regions considers the possibility that in a more pronounced economic downturn than is currently expected, the company’s performance might be negatively impacted, not only from asset quality deterioration, but also from pressure on businesses dependent on the level of asset prices, such as trust and investment management. That could weaken earnings and add to the downward pressure on Regions’ capital base.
SEE ALSO: If the capital-raising plan doesn’t work, there’s always the ‘For sale’ sign option.
permalink | Comment on this post
NHC-owned insurer upgraded
Posted on May 19, 2009 at 11:20 pmA.M. Best says Premier Group Insurance, a small company that writes workers’ comp business, is in good enough shape to be called ‘excellent.’
permalink | Comment on this post
Fitch: LifePoint could line up another Province deal
Posted on May 12, 2009 at 3:10 pmIn affirming the hospital company’s debt ratings, Fitch analysts say they are looking for the company to “increase leverage for a more sizable opportunity, as it has done in the past.” But such a deal would come with plenty of headaches.
Given the company’s focus on improving operations, significant acquisition activity could present meaningful integration risk to the credit. Over the past few years, LifePoint has contended with several operating challenges related to physician recruitment, integrating acquisitions and increasing operating expenses. As a result, the company has reported the worst organic volume growth in the industry since Jan. 1, 2007 as well as a more than 400 basis point decline in EBITDA margins over the past four years.
permalink | Comment on this post
Rating agencies take aim at regional banks
Posted on April 24, 2009 at 12:56 amS&P has lowered its rating on First Horizon, saying the parent of First Tennessee is likely to face even more bad loans later this year. Over at Moody’s, analysts slashed their rating on SunTrust by three notches over concerns that the bank’s capital position will continue to deteriorate.
They also cited the bank’s commercial real estate exposure as a factor. Their peers at Deutsche yesterday said losses from that sector could reach $1 trillion, a number that is “likely to dominate the industry for the better part of a decade.”
Recent Comments
In our good state a select few run the place, 20 yrs ago and today....
Southernindie…Unfortunat ely you have suffered a dibilitating...
And…Karl (Marx) Dean is spending one billion dollars...
Someone explain the difference between short stay and observation...
Watching the Chairman of Starwood Hotels yesterday on CNBC...
Funny how the Union’s feel about taxes. They complained about their...
Where is it?
An absolutely ugly structure, which I have always thought did not take...
Too bad that ATT changed the look of the building so that it no longer...
Yeah, well, look at the TN Legislature of good ol’ boys and the...
As long as the red rules, we will be far behind other states. The GOP does...
Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn: I don’t know what...