NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) March 24, 2003-- Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that it lowered its ratings, including lowering the long-term corporate credit rating to 'BBB' from 'A-', on BAE Systems PLC. The ratings on the Farnborough, U.K.-based defense supplier are removed from CreditWatch, where they were placed Dec. 12, 2002. The outlook is stable. The 'A-2' short-term corporate credit and commercial paper ratings were not on CreditWatch, and are affirmed. About £3 billion of debt is outstanding. "The downgrade reflects BAE Systems' poor profitability, weak cash flow generation, a decline in historically strong liquidity, and a sizable pension deficit," said Standard&Poor's credit analyst Roman Szuper. The company's credit profile continues to benefit from a
