Gekauft
UPDATE - Moody's cuts Charter deeper into junk, sees losses
Wednesday January 15, 11:14 am ET
(New throughout)
NEW YORK, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Charter Communications Inc.'s (NasdaqNM:CHTR -
News) ratings were cut deeper into "junk" territory on Wednesday by Moody's Investors
Service, on concern that bondholders are more likely to lose money if the No. 3 U.S. cable
TV operator restructures its $21 billion of debt.
Moody's said there was a "growing
probability of expected credit losses"
from an "increasingly likely" near- to
medium-term debt restructuring
involving Charter, which is controlled
by billionaire and Microsoft Corp.
co-founder Paul Allen.
Charter shares fell as much as 16
percent on Wednesday, and its bonds
also fell. The company, based in St.
Louis, did not immediately return a
call seeking comment.
Moody's cut Charter's senior
unsecured issuer rating two notches to "Ca," its second lowest grade, from "Caa2," and cut
Charter Communications Holdings LLC's senior unsecured notes four notches to "Ca" from
"B3." It also cut Charter's liquidity rating to "SGL-4," its lowest, from "SGL-3." Moody's
rating outlook remained "negative."
The downgrade may make a restructuring more difficult or costly, at a time Charter is
already fighting subscriber losses, heavy competition, and a federal grand jury probe of its
accounting practices.
Charter last month fired Chief Financial Officer Kent Kalkwarf and Chief Operating Officer
David Barford. The latter had been put on paid leave in October because of issues
surrounding the accounting investigation.
Moody's said Charter's "operational weakness may be more severe than anticipated,"
based in part on the dismissal of Kalkwarf and pending restructuring charges.
Charter said in November it would reaudit and restate its financial results from 2000
through the first half of 2002, after underreporting costs and tax liabilities from purchases in
1999 and 2000. It also said fourth-quarter operating cash flow would fall short of its
previously announced target. The company has about 6.7 million subscribers.
Charter shares traded Wednesday morning on the Nasdaq market at $1.24, down 24
cents, or 16.2 percent. They closed one year ago at $13.40.
Its 8.625 percent notes maturing in 2009 fell 6.5 cents on the dollar to 45.25 cents, pushing
the yield up to 27.48 percent from 23.91 percent, according to TRACE, the NASD bond
pricing service. The higher yield means investors see more risk.
Tief war 1,20
offensichtlich hatte der Markt bereits mit Abstufung gerechnet, sprich war größtenteils eingepreisst, nur ein paar überraschte haben ihre Stücke in Markt geworfen
schauen wir mal was passiert in nächsten Stunden und Tagen
ich glaube an Schlusskurs auf Vortagesniveau
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Wertpapier: Charter Communications |