On March 26, 2003, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services affirmed its 'BBB/A-3' corporate credit ratings on Cleco Corp. and its utility subsidiary, Cleco Power LLC, following a review of the companies. The ratings were taken off CreditWatch, where they were placed with negative implications on July 26, 2002. The corporate credit ratings were lowered to 'BBB' from 'BBB+' in November 2002 and kept on CreditWatch in response to concerns about revelations of energy-trading improprieties. Those concerns have now abated, but the outlook for the ratings is negative due to continued uncertainties surrounding the company's unregulated merchant energy activities. Pineville, La.-based Cleco has about $1.1 billion in debt outstanding. Cleco's involvement in unregulated electric generation has raised its business risk profile.
