In a March 18 story about Standard & Poor's downgrade of General Growth Properties Inc.'s corporate credit rating, The Associated Press incorrectly reversed the rating change. General Growth Properties was downgraded to "BB+" from "BBB-," not to "BBB-" from "BB+."
A corrected version of the story appears below.
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NEW YORK (AP) _ Standard & Poor's slashed its corporate credit rating for real estate investment trust General Growth Properties Inc. on Tuesday to "BB+" from "BBB-", citing the company's debt and weak financial standing.
The credit rating agency said the Chicago-based company's outlook is negative and also downgraded ratings on about $5 billion of the company's debt from "BB+" to "BB-."
"The downgrades reflect General Growth's weakened financial profile," Standard and Poor's credit analyst Linda Phelps said in a statement.
Standard & Poor's said it expects the company to need significant refinancing but added its core business remains strong.
"The operating performance of the company's core retail business remains solid, supported by a high-quality, well-diversified portfolio and a strong market position as one of the top two players in the highly concentrated U.S. regional mall sector," Phelps said.
On Tuesday, Goldman Sachs analyst Jonathan Haberman bumped General Growth from "Buy" to "Neutral" in a note to investors. Haberman said broader economic trends point to difficult times ahead for commercial real estate.
General Growth crept up 19 cents in afternoon trading Tuesday.
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