Ratings on Sanmina-SCI Corp. are based on weak operating performance, the challenge of realigning the company's operations to cope with difficult market conditions and weakening credit measures. These concerns are only partially offset by a top-tier industry position and favorable industry trends for electronics manufacturing outsourcing. San Jose, Calif.-based Sanmina-SCI is a leading provider of electronic manufacturing services (EMS) for the computing, telecommunications, and data communications industries. It had $2.6 billion of debt outstanding as of June 30, 2002. Credit measures are considerably weaker than anticipated, primarily due to a more severe and prolonged downturn than had been expected, which also significantly hurt profitability. Capacity utilization is well below desired levels, particularly in Sanmina-SCI's printed circuit board (PCB) fabrication business,
