District of Columbia Baseball Park Revenue Bonds Upgraded To 'BBB+' From 'BBB' On Good Coverage Levels; Outlook Stable

WASHINGTON (Standard&Poor's) March 4, 2016--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services raised its underlying rating on the District of Columbia's (D.C.) baseball park revenue bonds to 'BBB+' from 'BBB'. The outlook is stable. "We base the upgrade on good coverage levels that have remained consistent in each of the past three years, in addition to projected coverage levels that we expect to remain at least good due to the lack of additional debt plans," said Standard&Poor's credit analyst Timothy Barrett. The upgrade also reflects our understanding that management is in the process of defeasing $60 million of debt outstanding with excess pledged revenues, which will likely lower maximum annual debt service (MADS) by roughly 6.3%. The rating reflects

...WASHINGTON (Standard & Poor's) March 4, 2016--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services raised its underlying rating on the District of Columbia's (D.C.) baseball park revenue bonds to '###+' from '###'. The outlook is stable. "We base the upgrade on good coverage levels that have remained consistent in each of the past three years, in addition to projected coverage levels that we expect to remain at least good due to the lack of additional debt plans," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Timothy Barrett. The upgrade also reflects our understanding that management is in the process of defeasing $60 million of debt outstanding with excess pledged revenues, which will likely lower maximum annual debt service (MADS) by roughly 6.3%. The rating reflects our view of: + The bonds' cross-collateralization whereby excess revenues from the various pledged sources can pay debt service; + Good MADS coverage of 1.51x for 2015, with coverage expected to improve to at least 1.6x in fiscal 2016 following the...

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