StoneMor Partners L.P. Improves Liquidity by Increasing Available Secured Credit to $120 Million From $100 Million
Provides Updates to the Credit Rating on Its $150 million Senior Unsecured Notes
LEVITTOWN, Pa., Nov. 30, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- StoneMor Partners L.P. (Nasdaq:STON) previously announced that it had increased its available, secured credit from $100 million to $120 million. The company viewed this credit increase as a positive as it improves the company's liquidity. "Increasing our secured credit is a great benefit to our business and especially our unitholders," said Lawrence Miller, CEO of StoneMor. "The action helps us to grow our pre-need sales business and to execute other vital components of our growth strategy," said Miller.
In accordance with its annual review of StoneMor's credit rating, Moody's has kept the company's rating the same as it has been, at B2 with a stable outlook, and, as is standard practice, one notch down at B3 for $150 million of senior notes. Standard and Poor's placed StoneMor Partners' B corporate credit rating on CreditWatch with negative implications while lowering its issue level rating on StoneMor's $150 million senior unsecured notes from B- to CCC+ and placing that rating on CreditWatch with negative implications. It is StoneMor's understanding, after conversations with Standard and Poor's that they based the downgrade on its analysis
of the company's "recovery rating" which was negatively impacted by the increase in its credit facility. This increase took place simultaneously with the company's follow-on equity offering in February of 2011 which served to improve the company's leverage ratio.
"StoneMor Partners has a consistent record of growth and financial performance. We are pleased that Moody's has maintained our rating and while S&P's rating change is disappointing on the surface, it will have little or no impact on our ability to continue to drive revenues, adjusted operating profit and cash flow available for distributions to common unitholders," Miller said.
About StoneMor Partners L.P.
StoneMor Partners L.P., headquartered in Levittown, Pennsylvania, is an owner and operator of cemeteries and funeral homes in the United States, with 273 cemeteries and 70 funeral homes in 26 states and Puerto Rico. StoneMor is the only publicly traded death care company structured as a partnership. StoneMor's cemetery products and services, which are sold on both a pre-need (before death) and at-need (at death) basis, include: burial lots, lawn and mausoleum crypts, burial vaults, caskets, memorials, and all services which provide for the installation of
this merchandise.
For additional information about StoneMor Partners L.P., please visit StoneMor's website, and the Investor Relations section, at http://stonemor.com.
CONTACT: Tim Yost
(215) 826-2800
Source: StoneMor Partners L.P.
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