Protection One Alarm Monitoring Inc. (B/Negative/--) recorded a $659.3 million net-of-tax charge, in the first quarter of 2002, associated with impairment of the company's goodwill and customer accounts. The charge is largely noncash and is not expected to result in any violations of debt covenants. Standard&Poor's does not expect the announcement to impact the company's ratings or outlook. Ratings on Protection One Alarm Monitoring take into consideration near-term-liquidity concerns, a highly leveraged financial profile, and the management challenge of improving subpar-operating performance.