NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) Nov. 10, 2004--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services today affirmed its 'BBB' corporate credit ratings on Cleco Corp. and subsidiary Cleco Power LLC. The outlook is negative. The ratings affirmation follows the announcement that Cleco Corp. intends to issue 1.75 million shares of common stock. Pineville, La.-based Cleco Corp. has about $1 billion in debt. "The equity issuance signals a continued focus on core utility operations and debt reduction," said Standard&Poor's credit analyst Ben Tsocanos. "Still, credit measures remain weak for the current rating and the company remains challenged as it struggles to resolve unregulated power issues," he continued. Efforts to sell the Perryville merchant plant have faced persistent delays, and a dispute with
