Standard & Poor’s earlier this month stripped Care Initiatives’ $86 million of debt from a 2006 issue of its investment-grade status
The credit was dropped to BB-plus from BBB-minus. The bonds were sold through the Iowa Finance Authority.
The downgrade reflects lower-than-expected financial performance for the second consecutive year, a highly leveraged balance sheet with an adjusted debt-to-capital ratio of 81%, declining operations for the last two years and generally stable, but sometimes sporadic, utilization rates at various facilities.
Care Initiatives operates 53 facilities with 3,452 beds in 44 Iowa towns.
