S&P downgrades Kuwait's KIPCO twice in a week

Standard and Poor's has lowered the rating of Kuwait's biggest private holding firm Kuwait Projects Co for a second time in a week, but with a stable outlook, a statement said Wednesday. S and P downgraded KIPCO's long-term and short-term corporate credit ratings from "BBB" to "BBB-" and from A-2 to A-3, respectively. Last week, S and P lowered KIPCO's long-term corporate credit rating to "BBB" from "BBB+" over deterioration of its investment portfolio.
"The downgrade reflects our view that KIPCO's financial risk profile is weakening as a result of the company depositing a relatively significant share of its cash balances at its banking subsidiaries," S and P said. KIPCO's investment portfolio is now concentrated in two entities, pay-TV Orbit-Showtime and investment bank United Gulf Bank, which together account for 62 percent of KIPCO's value at the end of last year, the agency said.