SHADY GROVE, Pa. - Grove Worldwide's chief financial officer said Thursday his company's future is undamaged by being placed on CreditWatch by Standard and Poor's.
[cont. from front page]
The New York-based credit rating firm has set Grove's corporate credit rating at BB-, dropping Grove's borrowing capacity to the junk-bond range, said Standard and Poor's spokeswoman Christina Pretto.
Grove's debt as of Dec. 31 was $482 million, according to Standard and Poor's.
Pretto said Grove earned its poor rating because of its deteriorating operating performance and delayed results of its cost-cutting programs.
Steven L. Cripe, senior vice president and chief financial officer at Grove, said the company is in debt because it was bought with borrowed money.
The company was sold to Keystone Inc., a Fort Worth, Texas, investment firm, in March 1998 for $605 million.
Cripe said the low credit rating "doesn't mean anything unless we go out and borrow money in the marketplace."