NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) April 8, 2004--Standard&Poor's Rating Services said today that it lowered its corporate credit rating on Aquila Inc. to 'B-' from 'B'. The outlook is negative. Kansas City, Mo.-based energy provider Aquila has approximately $2.7 billion of outstanding debt. "The downgrade reflects continued uncertainty regarding Aquila's ability to restructure its gas prepay contracts and the expectation that credit measures will remain pressured despite management's efforts to stem its deteriorating credit profile," said Standard&Poor's credit analyst Rajeev Sharma. Standard&Poor's also said that the negative outlook reflects that the ratings could be lowered if Aquila is unable to significantly reduce debt leverage, stabilize credit measures, and maintain sufficient liquidity for the rating
