Fitch ups Asarco to CCC

Fitch Ratings said it has upgraded the rating of Asarco Inc. to CCC from C. The rating applies to Asarco's notes due in 2013 and 2025.

The outlook is stable.

Fitch said this rating action reflects Fitch's belief that Asarco's credit profile is no longer one of imminent default, as indicated by Fitch's C rating. In 2003, Asarco reduced its outstanding debt by about $600 million through the sale of its stake in Southern Peru Copper Corp. and faces no significant maturities until 2013.

Fitch's CCC rating maintains that default is a real possibility and a company's capacity for meeting financial commitments is solely reliant upon sustained favorable business or economic conditions over the medium-term.

Asarco now has total debt of about $440 million (consisting of $250 million of unsecured debt due 2013 to 2025 and $190 million in pollution control bonds due 2004 to 2033), and has no significant maturities until a $100 million note matures in 2013. About $36 million of debt matures in 2004 to 2009.

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