American Water's Corporate Credit Rating Receives Upgrades from Standard & Poor's and Moody's

VOORHEES, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

American Water AWK, the largest publicly traded U.S. water and wastewater utility company, announced today that Standard & Poor's (S&P) reported on May 7, 2015, it had upgraded the corporate credit rating on American Water Works Company, Inc. and its American Water Capital Corp. subsidiary to 'A' from ‘A-'.

Additionally, on April 22, 2015, American Water Works Company, Inc. and American Water Capital Corp. received upgrades from Moody's to ‘Positive' from ‘Stable.'

S&P stated its rationale for the upgrade as due primarily to improved financial measures from company's effective management of regulatory risk and continuation of its cost management initiatives. Moody's stated its upgrade was due to the "expectation for a sustained improvement in the financial credit ratios, including a ratio of funds from operations to debt" and also "reflects its size, scale and diversity that results from regulated utility operations across 16 states."

"We are pleased with S&P's and Moody's decisions, which reflect the advantage of our company's geographic diversity and our continuous efforts to strengthen our balance sheet," said Linda G. Sullivan, senior vice president and chief financial officer of American Water. "This upgrade benefits the 15 million people who depend on us to provide clean, safe, reliable and affordable water services to them every day. Having greater access to capital at lower debt costs enhances our ability to make needed investments into our water and wastewater systems while balancing the impact it has on the customers we serve."

Founded in 1886, American Water is the largest publicly traded U.S. water and wastewater utility company. With headquarters in Voorhees, N.J., the company employs 6,400 dedicated professionals who provide regulated and market-based drinking water, wastewater and other related services to an estimated 15 million people in 47 states and Ontario, Canada. More information can be found at www.amwater.com.

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