Standard & Poor's Cuts Ethan Allen Ratings

NEW YORK (AP) — Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said Tuesday it lowered its corporate credit and senior unsecured debt ratings for home furnishings retailer Ethan Allen Interiors Inc., citing "very weak" operating results.

The agency cut the ratings to "BB" from "BBB-" and removed all the company's ratings from CreditWatch with negative implications, a designation issued in February that meant they could have been cut further. It assigned a negative outlook.

Standard & Poor's also lowered its rating of $200 million in senior unsecured notes due 2015 of the company's wholly owned subsidiary, Ethan Allen Global Inc., to "BB" from "BBB-." It assigned a "3'' recovery rating, indicating the expectation of a meaningful — 50 percent to 70 percent — recovery in the event of a payment default. ...