HONG KONG (Standard&Poor's) Feb. 13, 2009--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that it had lowered the long-term corporate credit rating on CITIC Resources Holdings Ltd. (CRH) to 'BB' from 'BB+'. The outlook on the rating is stable. At the same time, Standard&Poor's also lowered the issue rating on the seven-year US$1.0 billion senior unsecured notes issued by CITIC Resources Finance (2007) Ltd. to 'BB' from 'BB+'; the notes are guaranteed by CRH. All the ratings were removed from CreditWatch, where they had been placed with negative implications on Oct. 21, 2008. "The downgrades are primarily due to CRH's weakening standalone credit quality as a result of the sharp decline in demand and prices for commodities.
