Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said that it had lowered its long-term corporate credit rating on PT Berlian Laju Tanker Tbk. (BLT) to 'D' from 'CC'. We also lowered the issue rating on the US$400 million senior unsecured notes due 2014, issued by BLT Finance B.V. , a wholly owned subsidiary of BLT, to 'D' from 'C'. BLT guarantees the notes. At the same time, we removed the ratings from CreditWatch, where they were placed with negative implications on Jan. 30, 2012, Reuters reports. "The downgrade follows our confirmation that BLT has failed to make ship-lease payments to at least one company," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Vishal Kulkarni. "A failure to honor contractual financial obligation constitutes a default."
We believe BLT is likely to fail to honor other financial obligations, such as interest payments and debt repayments, in days ahead. We will assess BLT's debt-servicing ability following a restructuring at the company.
Source: Port News