On April 11, 2003, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services lowered its ratings (review ratings below) on electricity and natural gas distributor Aquila Inc. to 'B' from 'B+'. The ratings were also removed from CreditWatch where they were placed with negative implications on Feb. 25, 2003. The outlook is negative. The rating actions reflect concerns resulting from the company's reliance on asset sales to reduce debt levels and projected weak cash flows from operations. At the same time, Standard&Poor's Rating Services assigned a 'B+' rating to Aquila's proposed $430 million senior secured credit facility. The issuer rating of Aquila Merchant Services Inc. was withdrawn. Kansas City, Mo.- based Aquila has about $3 billion of outstanding debt. The ratings on
