S&P Lowers Mirant Credit Rating

ATLANTA - Mirant Corp. suffered another financial blow Monday when Standard & Poor&#39;s lowered its credit ratings of the energy merchant to noninvestment grade. S&P, which also lowered its rating on the company&#39;s preferred stock, said Mirant&#39;s outlook is negative.<br> <br> Mirant and its subsidiaries have about $10.7 million in outstanding debt and $2.2 billion in cash, including about $400 million in Asia that is restricted from distribution, S&P said.<br> <br> &#34;The rating action follows Standard & Poor&#39;s expectation that Mirant&#39;s probable financial performance in the next two to three years will not support an investment-grade rating, &#34; said Terry Pratt, an S&P credit analyst. He also said Mirant faces &#34;greater financial uncertainty&#34; because of its high debt, low power prices and borrowing difficulties.<br> <br> Atlanta-based Mirant is among the largest suppliers of electric power and natural gas in the U.S.<br> <br> Like many of its rivals in the energy generation and trading industry, Mirant has been frantically selling assets since late last year to raise cash and improve liquidity.<br> <br> &#34;It&#39;s something we&#39;re not surprised about, but we&#39;re disappointed,&#34; Mirant spokesman David Payne said of the downgrade. &#34;We have an aggressive plan to raise our liquidity through asset sales. We&#39;ve made some headway with that.&#34;<br> <br> Mirant shares gained 26 cents to close at $1.45 Monday on the New York Stock Exchange, before losing 13 cents in extended trading.<br> <br>

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