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Brunswick Has Rating Cut to BBB- by Standard & Poor's (Update1)
By Brad Skillman
June 30 (Bloomberg) -- Brunswick Corp., the maker of Sea Ray yachts and Boston Whaler fishing boats, had its corporate-credit rating cut by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services to BBB-, one level above non-investment grade.
Concerns about Brunswick's financial results and conditions in the maritime industry led to the reduction from BBB, S&P said today in a statement. About $730 million in debt was affected. The agency said an additional ratings cut was possible.
Brunswick said June 26 that it plans to close four more North American facilities than originally forecast and may fire as much as 10 percent of its workforce to lower costs. U.S. powerboat sales sank to the lowest in more than 40 years in 2007, the company said.
Brunswick, based in Lake Forest, Illinois, fell 65 cents, or 5.8 percent, to $10.60 at 4:03 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, the lowest since October 1991. The shares have dropped 38 percent this year.
Brunswick's 7.4 percent bonds maturing in September 2023 last traded at 94 cents on the dollar on June 24, according to Trace, the bond price reporting system of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. The yield rose to 8.07 percent from 7.95 percent on June 11.
To contact the reporter on this story: Brad Skillman in New York at bskillman1@bloomberg.net.
By Brad Skillman
June 30 (Bloomberg) -- Brunswick Corp., the maker of Sea Ray yachts and Boston Whaler fishing boats, had its corporate-credit rating cut by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services to BBB-, one level above non-investment grade.
Concerns about Brunswick's financial results and conditions in the maritime industry led to the reduction from BBB, S&P said today in a statement. About $730 million in debt was affected. The agency said an additional ratings cut was possible.
Brunswick said June 26 that it plans to close four more North American facilities than originally forecast and may fire as much as 10 percent of its workforce to lower costs. U.S. powerboat sales sank to the lowest in more than 40 years in 2007, the company said.
Brunswick, based in Lake Forest, Illinois, fell 65 cents, or 5.8 percent, to $10.60 at 4:03 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, the lowest since October 1991. The shares have dropped 38 percent this year.
Brunswick's 7.4 percent bonds maturing in September 2023 last traded at 94 cents on the dollar on June 24, according to Trace, the bond price reporting system of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. The yield rose to 8.07 percent from 7.95 percent on June 11.
To contact the reporter on this story: Brad Skillman in New York at bskillman1@bloomberg.net.