The Shaw Group Inc. (NYSE:SGR) announced today that Standard & Poor's Ratings Services (S&P) has raised the company's credit ratings, including its corporate credit rating to BB+ from BB. The outlook is stable.
"This latest credit rating upgrade reflects the strength of Shaw's financial profile, the company's excellent operating performance and its leadership position in its primary end markets. We continue to generate strong cash flow from operations, and our balance sheet continues to strengthen, highlighted by a record cash balance approaching $700 million at our third quarter close," said Brian K. Ferraioli, Shaw's executive vice president and chief financial officer.
The S&P ratings upgrade follows the April 2008 upgrade from Moody's Investors Service on Shaw's corporate credit rating and the rating assigned to the company's senior secured bank credit facility to Ba1 from Ba2.
"Shaw's financial health and growing backlog of unfilled orders that now exceeds $16 billion underpin our excitement about the future of this company," continued Mr. Ferraioli.
The Shaw Group Inc. is a leading global provider of technology, engineering, procurement, construction, maintenance, fabrication, manufacturing, consulting, remediation and facilities management services for government and private sector clients in the energy, chemicals, environmental, infrastructure and emergency response markets. A Fortune 500 company with fiscal 2008 revenues expected to exceed $7 billion, Shaw is headquartered in Baton Rouge, La., and employs approximately 27,000 people at its offices and operations in North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region. For further information, please visit Shaw's Web site at www.shawgrp.com.
The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a "safe harbor" for certain forward-looking statements. The statements contained herein that are not historical facts (including without limitation statements to the effect that the Company or its management "believes,""expects," "anticipates,""plans" or other similar expressions) and statements related to revenues, earnings, backlog or other financial information or results are forward-looking statements based on the Company's current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on the Company. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting the Company will be those anticipated by the Company. These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) and assumptions and are subject to change based upon various factors. Should one or more of such risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. A description of some of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements can be found in the Company's reports and registration statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Form 10-K and Form 10-Q reports, and on the Company"Forward-Looking Statements." These documents are also available from the Securities and Exchange Commission or from the Investor Relations department of Shaw. For more information on the company and announcements it makes from time to time on a regional basis, visit our Web site at www.shawgrp.com.
