Leighton Holdings Ltd. (Leighton) received ‘BBB’ long-term and ‘A-2’ short-term corporate credit ratings from Standard & Poor's Ratings Services.

Leighton, now on CreditWatch negative implications, had a reduced profit forecast for fiscal in 2011 through out the company’s proposal for equity raising.

Craig Parker, Standard & Poor's credit analyst, said in an interview,” Although the proposed equity raising will bolster Leighton's capital structure, we expect the company's funds from operations to debt ratio in fiscal 2012 to be weaker than our expectation for the 'BBB' rating."

Parker added that they are hopeful to settle the CreditWatch issue with in 90 days. In a company review, its officials would find strategies to empower Leighton’s capacity to defy unexpected shocks to its cash flow. The company’s Middle East investments would also be one of the priorities of the long-term strategies that Leighton plans to come up with.

Parker further explained, "We are also monitoring Grupo ACS's shareholding in Hochtief AG, along with the apprehensions that Grupo ACS's increasing ownership stocks may have insinuations on the business and financing strategies of Hochtief. In our assessment, Hochtief's business profile and financial metrics are inadequate than Leighton's on a separate basis."

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