Janus Capital Group’s rating was lowered today by Standard & Poor’s to junk status, citing the money manager’s decreased debt-servicing ability and cash-flow generation.
Janus’ debt rating was lowered to BB+ from BBB-, a rating below BBB- is considered non-investment grade.
S&P also lowered the firm’s counterparty credit rating to B from A-3. The outlook is stable.
“Janus has been harder hit than most other rated asset managers during the global plunge in stock prices, because it is primarily an equity shop. Assets under management fell 40% year-over-year to $123.5 billion at Dec. 31, 2008,” S&P said in a report.
S&P noted that Janus has $275 million of notes maturing in September 2011 and another $300 million in June 2012.
