S&P affirms Bunge

Standard & Poor's said it affirmed Bunge Ltd.'s BBB- corporate credit rating and removed the ratings from CreditWatch, where they were placed with negative implications in October because of Bunge's weak operating performance through the first nine months of fiscal 2009, resulting in key credit measures that were well below expectations at the current rating.

The outlook is negative.

The ratings remained on negative CreditWatch after the company announced in January that it would sell its fertilizer mining assets to Vale SA.

The affirmation and negative outlook reflect an opinion that a planned debt repayment, together with improving operating performance, likely will improve credit measures to levels that support the current rating despite the recently announced share repurchase, S&P said.

The negative outlook reflects concerns about company's ability to meet financial performance expectations, given its recent history of operating underperformance, the agency said.

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