NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) April 24, 2003--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that there is no change to its ratings or outlook on graphite and carbon electrode producer GrafTech International Ltd. (B+/Stable/--) following the company's first-quarter earnings announcement. The earnings are in line with Standard&Poor's expectations. The company's increased debt levels--largely resulting from working capital purposes--were anticipated. Standard&Poor's does not expect debt levels to increase further and is still anticipating EBITDA for 2003 between $110 million and $120 million. However, if market conditions weaken, particularly steel industry capacity utilization, a "step-up" of covenants under the bank facility in September could result in covenant violations. This is somewhat concerning considering that during the fiscal year
