The ratings on Lawrence, Kan.-based Protection One Alarm Monitoring Inc. reflect the company's modest presence in the highly competitive U.S. security alarm industry, declining revenues, and leveraged financial profile. These partly are offset by a largely recurring revenue base and the expectation for continued positive free operating cash flow generation. With annual revenues of approximately $270 million, Protection One is a second-tier provider of property monitoring services, providing sales, installation, and maintenance of security alarm systems to approximately 1 million residential and commercial customers. Pro forma for the debt restructuring and the proposed bank facility, Protection One had approximately $374 million in operating lease-adjusted debt as of March 2005. The company's shift to an internal sales model from a dealer-generated
