TORONTO (Standard&Poor's CreditWire) Feb. 14, 2001--Standard&Poor's today affirmed its ratings on Cogeco Cable Inc. (see list below). At the same time, the outlook was revised to negative from stable. The outlook revision reflects Cogeco Cable's weakened operating margins due to higher marketing expenses necessitated by increased competition from direct-to-home (DTH) satellite service providers and the rollout of new services, such as digital and high-speed Internet access services. The ratings reflect Cogeco Cable's relatively strong business position as Canada's fourth-largest cable company, as well as its fairly moderate overall financial policy. These factors are tempered by the challenges presented in the form of growing competition in the Canadian broadcast distribution industry. For the past several years Cogeco
