S&P lowers rating on Brown Shoe

Standard & Poors lowers rating on Brown shoe over performance concerns

• On 6:44 pm EDT, Tuesday September 1, 2009

NEW YORK (AP) -- Standard & Poor's Ratings Services on Tuesday lowered its corporate credit rating on St. Louis-based Brown Shoe Co. Inc. and lowered its rating on its unsecured notes on concerns about continued deterioration of its business performance.

S&P lowered Brown's corporate credit rating to B- from B and the rating on the company's unsecured notes to B- from B.

Standard & Poor's credit analyst David Kuntz said the downgrade reflects the ongoing performance deterioration at the company, which has hurt it credit protection metrics. Kuntz said these trends are likely to continue to weaken the company's position.

However, the outlook on the company remains stable given Brown Shoe's adequate cash position, Kuntz wrote.