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Fitch Revises Outlook on Entergy Corp. & Subsidiaries to Stable; Ratings Affirmed.


NEW YORK New York, state, United States
New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of
 -- Fitch revises the Rating Outlook of Entergy Corp. (NYSE NYSE

See: New York Stock Exchange
:ETR ETR Estimated Time of Return/Repair
ETR Early to Rise (health e-zine)
ETR Effective Tax Rate
Etr Etruscan (linguistics)
ETR Eastern Test Range
ETR Express Toll Route
) and its subsidiaries Entergy Arkansas, Inc. (EAI (Enterprise Application Integration) Refers to various techniques used to share data and business processes in large enterprises. When companies acquire another organization, disparate information systems have to be made to work together. ), Entergy Gulf States, Inc. (EGSI), Entergy Louisiana, LLC (Logical Link Control) See "LANs" under data link protocol.

LLC - Logical Link Control
 (ELL), Entergy Mississippi, Inc. (EMI (ElectroMagnetic Interference) An electrical disturbance in a system due to natural phenomena, low-frequency waves from electromechanical devices or high-frequency waves (RFI) from chips and other electronic devices. Allowable limits are governed by the FCC. ) and System Energy Resources, Inc. (SERI SERI Sustainable Europe Research Institute
SERI Special Education Resources on the Internet
SERI Solar Energy Research Institute (Golden, Colorado)
SERI Singapore Eye Research Institute
SERI Schepens Eye Research Institute
) to Stable from Negative. Fitch also affirms the ratings for each of these companies. A complete list of ratings is available at the bottom of this press release.

The Entergy organization has withstood the financial and operating challenges from last year's unprecedented storm damages without impairment Impairment

1. A reduction in a company's stated capital.

2. The total capital that is less than the par value of the company's capital stock.

Notes:
1. This is usually reduced because of poorly estimated losses or gains.

2.
 of its consolidated credit profile. While a number of contingencies exist and their resolution cannot be predicted with certainty, Fitch believes the ultimate outcome of such items will have no rating implications. Approximately $8.7 billion of debt is affected.

The Stable Rating Outlook for ETR reflects the partial and continuing recovery of utility cash flows to pre-hurricane levels, strong and growing cash flows from the company's merchant nuclear fleet, limited commodity price exposure, constructive regulatory developments relating to relating to relate prepconcernant

relating to relate prepbezüglich +gen, mit Bezug auf +acc 
 cost recovery, and ample liquidity. Consolidated credit metrics metrics Managed care A popular term for standards by which the quality of a product, service, or outcome of a particular form of Pt management is evaluated. See TQM.  are strong for ETR's rating category as funds from operations Funds From Operations (FFO)

Used by real estate and other investment trusts to define the cash flow from trust operations; earnings with depreciation and amortization added back.
 (FFO FFO

See: Funds from operations
)-to-interest coverage was 4.0 times (x) and total debt-to-FFO was 5.7x for the twelve months ended June 30, 2006. For 2007, Fitch projects that ETR's FFO interest coverage will be in the range of 4.5 to 5.5x, while debt to FFO will be in the range of 4.5 to 5.5x. These projections assume limited storm cost recovery before year-end 2007.

EAI's ratings reflect its strong predictable cash flows, low-cost generation fleet, and the improved credit profiles of hurricane-affected affiliates. The Stable Rating Outlook is based on Fitch's expectation that EAI will maintain credit metrics consistent with its rating category. For 2007, Fitch projects EAI's FFO interest coverage will remain in the range of 5.5 to 6.5x, while debt to FFO will remain in the range of 3.0 to 4.0x. Fitch notes that EAI is currently waiting for several major decisions from regulators; while the company's present credit profile and rating can withstand a moderate deterioration in financial performance caused by any one unsupportive decision, multiple unsupportive decisions could change the rating or Rating Outlook of EAI and its parent, ETR, which relies on utility dividends to fund operations.

EGSI's ratings reflect its limited commodity price exposure, adequate liquidity, and credit metrics consistent with its rating category. For the twelve months ended June 30, 2006, funds from operations (FFO)-to-interest coverage was 4.0x and total debt-to-FFO was 5.8x. The Stable Rating Outlook is based on Fitch's expectation that EGSI's credit metrics will remain adequate for its current rating category. For 2007, Fitch projects EGSI's FFO interest coverage will remain in the range of 3.75 to 4.25x, while debt to FFO will remain in the range of 5.0 to 6.0x. These projections assume limited storm cost recovery before year-end 2007. Fitch also assumes there will be no near-term repayment of debt or equity issued to fund storm restoration costs without proceeds from storm cost recovery.

ELL's ratings reflect its limited commodity price exposure, a supportive capacity cost recovery mechanism, and slowly improving credit metrics. For the twelve months ended June 30, 2006, funds from operations (FFO)-to-interest coverage was 2.3 times (x) and total debt-to-FFO was 10.4x; these metrics are substantially weaker than historical averages and reflect the magnitude of the hurricane damage in 2005. However, Fitch expects operating cash flows Operating cash flow

Earnings before depreciation minus taxes. Measures the cash generated from operations, not counting capital spending or working capital requirements.
, interest coverage, and debt coverage ratios will improve through year-end 2006 and 2007 to pre-hurricane levels. The Stable Rating Outlook is based on Fitch's expectation that ELL's credit metrics will be adequate for its rating category. For 2007, Fitch projects FFO interest coverage will be in the range of 4.5 to 5.5x, and debt to FFO will be in the range of 5.0 to 6.0x. These projections assume limited storm cost recovery before year-end 2007.

EMI's ratings reflect its constructive regulatory environment, the high likelihood of storm cost recovery, and slowly improving credit metrics. For the twelve months ended June 30, 2006, funds from operations (FFO)-to-interest coverage was 2.0 times (x) and total debt-to-FFO was 16.9x; these metrics are substantially weaker than historical averages and reflect the magnitude of the hurricane damage in 2005. However, Fitch expects operating cash flows, interest coverage, and debt coverage ratios will improve through year-end 2006 and 2007 to pre-hurricane levels. The Stable Rating Outlook is based on Fitch's expectation that EMI's credit metrics will be adequate for its rating category. For 2007, Fitch projects EMI's FFO interest coverage will remain in the range of 4.0 to 5.0x, while debt to FFO will remain in the range of 4.5 to 5.5x.

SERI's ratings are supported principally by the obligations of affiliated utilities, ETR's obligation to supply sufficient funds to maintain SERI's equity capital at 35% of capitalization and to pay its debt when due. The Stable Rating Outlook reflects the improved credit profiles of SERI's affiliated utilities.

ETR is a diversified energy company focused on power production, including significant nuclear operations, distribution operations and other energy related services. ETR's utility subsidiaries serve approximately 2.7 million customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. ETR is also the second largest operator of nuclear power plants in the U.S.

Fitch affirms the following ratings and revises the Outlook to Stable from Negative:

Entergy Corp.

-- Long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR IDR

In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the Indonesian Rupiah.

Notes:
The currency market, also known as the Foreign Exchange market, is the largest financial market in the world, with a daily average volume of over US $1 trillion.
) 'BBB-';

Entergy Arkansas

-- Long-term IDR 'BBB';

-- Senior secured 'BBB+';

-- Senior secured Pollution Control Revenue Bonds (PCRBs) 'BBB+'

-- Senior unsecured PCRBs 'BBB';

-- Preferred Stock Stock shares that have preferential rights to dividends or to amounts distributable on liquidation, or to both, ahead of common shareholders.

Preferred stock is given preference over common stock. Holders of preferred stock receive dividends at a fixed annual rate.
 'BBB-'.

Entergy Gulf States

-- Long-term IDR 'BB+';

-- Senior secured 'BBB';

-- Senior secured PCRBs 'BBB'

-- Senior unsecured PCRBs 'BBB-';

-- Preferred Stock 'BB+'.

Entergy Louisiana LLC

-- Long-term IDR 'BBB';

-- Senior Secured 'BBB+';

-- Senior unsecured PCRBs 'BBB';

-- Waterford lease obligation 'BBB';

-- Preferred Stock 'BBB-'.

Entergy Mississippi

-- Long-term IDR 'BBB-';

-- Senior secured 'BBB+';

-- Preferred stock 'BBB-'.

System Energy Resources

-- Long-term IDR 'BBB-';

-- Senior secured 'BBB-';

-- Senior unsecured 'BBB-'.

Fitch's rating definitions and the terms of use Terms of Use are rules set up by the owner of an intellectual property or service to govern how they may be legally used.

In many cases, terms of service are used as a contractual agreement between a company and users of a service they provide.
 of such ratings are available on the agency's public site, www.fitchratings.com. Published ratings, criteria and methodologies are available from this site, at all times. Fitch's code of conduct, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, affiliate firewall, compliance and other relevant policies and procedures Policies and Procedures are a set of documents that describe an organization's policies for operation and the procedures necessary to fulfill the policies. They are often initiated because of some external requirement, such as environmental compliance or other governmental  are also available from the 'Code of Conduct' section of this site.
COPYRIGHT 2006 Business Wire
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 2006, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

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Publication:Business Wire
Date:Oct 12, 2006
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