NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) June 17, 2003--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services today lowered its corporate credit ratings on Duke Energy Corp. (DEC), Duke Capital Corp. (DCC), Westcoast Energy Inc., Union Gas Ltd., and other related subsidiaries to 'BBB+' from 'A-'. The corporate credit rating for Duke Energy Trading and Marketing LLC was lowered to 'BBB-' from 'BBB'. At the same time, the ratings on the companies' debt issues were also lowered by one notch. The outlook for all companies is negative. Charlotte, N.C.-based Duke Energy had US$22.4 billion of consolidated debt outstanding on March 31, 2003. "The rating action reflects Standard&Poor's concern about Duke Energy's ability to strengthen its financial profile enough over the remainder of 2003
