S&P affirms US ethanol maker Aventine's rating

05 May 2008 05:04  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--S&P has affirmed its B+ rating on Aventine and placed it on negative watch due to its continued inability to auction off some of its student loan asset-backed securities.

"The rating action is a result of the continued illiquidity of the auction rate securities markets in which Aventine has about $127.1m invested," S&P said.

The US-based ethanol maker had earlier reported a loss of $10.8m for the first quarter, reversing a $14.9m net profit a year earlier, largely due to these illiquid securities

The company had even warned of delays in the construction of two new plants in Aurora and Mt Vernon in Illinois due to the difficulty in selling these securities. Aventine’s current annual capacity of 207m gallons was expected to expand by 226m gallons once the two facilities were operational.

Moody’s had recently downgraded Aventine’s liquidity rating and moved the company’s credit outlook to negative for the same reasons.

By: Bohan Loh
+65 6780 4359

< previous article(VIDEO - ICIS news Europe Lunchtime Bulletin 27 October 2009)

For the latest chemical news, data and analysis that directly impacts your business sign up for a free trial to ICIS news - the breaking online news service for the global chemical industry.

Get the facts and analysis behind the headlines from our market leading weekly magazine: sign up to a free trial to ICIS Chemical Business.

Printer Friendly