NEW YORK-STANDARD & Poor’s Ratings Services lowered its corporate credit rating on telecommunications provider Ntelos Inc. from ‘CCC+’ to ‘SD’ and removed the rating from CreditWatch. The ratings agency cited Ntelos’ announcement that it would not be making interest payments on a pair of debt securities, which S&P lowered to its ‘D’ rating.
Ntelos earlier this week said it was in active discussions with its debtholders concerning a comprehensive financial restructuring plan and did not indicate if it would continue to service its secured bank loans.
“If the company is not successful in restructuring the public debt, there is a higher degree of likelihood that it will file for bankruptcy and may therefore be unable to continue to service the bank facilities,” explained Catherine Cosentino, credit analyst at S&P.
