NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) Oct. 30, 2001--Standard&Poor's lowered its corporate credit and senior unsecured debt ratings on Protection One Alarm Monitoring Inc. to single-'B' from single-'B'-plus and its subordinated note ratings to triple-'C'-plus from single-'B'-minus. The outlook remains negative. The downgrade is based on deteriorating operating performance resulting in weaker credit protection measures. Topeka, Kansas-based Protection One Alarm Monitoring is the second largest security alarm company in the U.S., providing monitoring and related security services to nearly 1.3 million customers in North America. The ratings on Protection One take into consideration a highly leveraged financial profile and the management challenge of improving subpar operating performance. These concerns are only partially offset by the stability and predictability associated
