Citi Field bonds cut to 'junk' status

[February 11, 2010]  NEW YORK (AP) -- Citi Field's bonds have been lowered to junk status by Standard & Poors and Moody's Investors Service because the company that insures the reserve fund for many of them is having financial troubles.

The bonds' underlying rating was dropped from Baa3, an investment grade, to Ba1, a speculative grade, by Moody's last Thursday.

Standard and Poors cut the bonds from BBB to BB+ on Tuesday while still giving them a "stable outlook."

The Mets sold $613.1 million of three types of bonds in 2006 and an additional $82.28 million of bonds last year. Ambac Assurance Corp., the company having financial difficulty, insured $547.6 million of the 2006 PILOT bonds (payment in lieu of taxes).

[Associated Press]

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