Bangkok--7 Oct--Standard & Poor's
Standard & Poor's will hold a telephone conference call on Thursday, Oct. 7, 2010, at 1:00 p.m. U.S. Eastern Daylight Time to discuss its recent reports, "Volatile Times Continue For Speculative-Grade Health Care Providers" and "U.S. Not-For-Profit Small Hospitals Move Toward Stability." According to the reports, speculative-grade health care providers in the U.S. continue to face many challenges, while not-for-profit small hospitals have improved their operations in the past year.
Please join ratings analysts from Standard & Poor's U.S. Not-For-Profit Health Care Group, Martin Arrick, Managing Director and Senior Analytic Leader; Kenneth Gacka, Associate Director; and Avanti Paul, Associate, for an interactive, live teleconference and Q&A. The discussion will include:
What has been the trend in rating actions affecting speculative grade providers since our last report and what are our expectations for the near to medium term?
What are the key credit characteristics separating investment grade providers and speculative grade providers?
What observations can be drawn from the 2009 speculative grade ratios?
What do the 2009 ratios and current year trends indicate about the small hospital sector's near to medium term credit outlook?
What has been the trend in the small hospital sector compared to the larger stand-alone hospitals?
How has the stable performance been reflected in our rating actions since our last report?
If you have any specific questions that you would like to be addressed on this teleconference, please submit by sending an email to
[email protected].
Please note that Standard & Poor's offers all of its broadcast teleconference calls to all interested participants on a complimentary basis. This teleconference will be Net-enhanced with accompanying slide presentation.
The call will begin promptly at 1:00 p.m. Please call at least 15 minutes before the scheduled start of the call to complete the pre-call registration process.
Live Dial-in Numbers
U.S./Canada/All Others (Toll): 1-210-234-6461
U.S./Canada/All Others (Toll Free): 1-800-779-3177
Conference ID Number: 8260673
Passcode: SANDP
Net Enhanced: This conference call will allow participants to view a slide presentation by logging into www.mymeetings.com/nc/join. The conference name is PG8260673, and the passcode is SANDP. To view the presentations, you must have either Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer version 4.x or later, and your computer must be Java enabled.
Replays: Recorded replays of the call are made available about an hour after the call concludes and will be available until Thursday, Oct. 14, 2010.
Replay numbers:
U.S./Canada/All Others (Toll): 1-203-369-3859
U.S./Canada/All Others (Toll Free): 1-800-937-3036
Streaming Audio: The call will also be available live in "listen-only" mode at www.events.standardandpoors.com for listeners with the Real Player? software, sound card, and speakers. The Streaming Audio playback will be available until Thursday, Nov. 4, 2010.
If you have any questions about the conference call, please e-mail:
[email protected].
The credit-related analyses, including ratings, of Standard & Poor's and its affiliates are statements of opinion as of the date they are expressed and not statements of fact or recommendations to purchase, hold, or sell any securities or to make any investment decisions. Ratings, credit-related analyses, data, models, software and output there from should not be relied on when making any investment decision. Standard & Poor's opinions and analyses do not address the suitability of any security. Standard & Poor's does not act as a fiduciary or an investment advisor.
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Standard & Poor's, a subsidiary of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE:MHP), is the world's foremost provider of independent credit ratings, indices, risk evaluation, investment research, and data. With approximately 10,000 employees, including wholly owned affiliates, located in 23 countries and markets, Standard & Poor's is an essential part of the world's financial infrastructure and has played a leading role for more than 140 years in providing investors with the independent benchmarks they need to feel more confident about their investment and financial decisions. For more information, visit www.standardandpoors.com.
Media Contact:
Ana Sandoval, New York (1) 212-438-5095,
[email protected]
Analyst Contacts:
Martin D Arrick, New York (1) 212-438-7963
Kenneth T Gacka, San Francisco (1) 415-371-5036
Avanti Paul, Chicago (1) 312-233-7061