“Fitch expects Atrium’s financial metrics to remain resilient and stable in the next two years, despite two major shopping centre acquisitions in 2011,” says Jean-Pierre Husband, a Director in Fitch’s EMEA Corporate Finance team. “The Positive Outlook reflects Atrium’s substantial progress in resolving outstanding litigation claims, which is a prerequisite for any upgrade of the ratings.”Fitch believes Atrium’s EBIT NIC should settle between a still comfortable 5.0x and 5.5x in 2011-2013 (including the Prague and Promenada, Poland shopping centre acquisitions completed this year) despite the agency’s assumption of higher interest costs on bank debt during the period. Fitch expects Atrium to maintain an EBIT NIC of above 2.0x for an investment grade rating.Net leverage should also stay moderate in the next three years (loan-to-value ratio (LTV) of between 5% and 25%) and below industry averages in the short to medium term (LTVs of around 35%-45%). This allows Atrium some financial flexibility, although recent acquisitions have used secured debt, which may constrain the group’s unsecured asset cover. Fitch expects Atrium to diversify its access and sources of funding in the next two to three years.The contentious position between Meinl Bank AG (Meinl) and Atrium was resolved in June 2011, with all claims and lawsuits against each other withdrawn. Fitch notes that Atrium made no cash payments under this settlement. The companies also agreed to sever all business ties and new bond trustees were appointed.The ratings are constrained by the remaining outstanding litigation regarding the share buybacks in 2007. Although Fitch believes that the ultimate liability to the owners and management is limited, there is still some residual uncertainty and Atrium’s ability to issue new bonds may be constrained. The resolution of all residual litigation claims would be a strong positive towards the restoration of an investment grade rating for the group.Atrium’s EBIT net interest cover (NIC) improved to 7.7x in 2010 (8.6x at H111) from 2.7x in 2009. This was due to stable rental income, reduced property costs and lower interest payments, resulting from high-coupon bond buybacks.Gross rental income increased by 1.8% in 2010 (+14.5% at H111 compared to H110), as Atrium restricted temporary letting discounts in Russia and improved occupancy rates. This positive trend is underlined by increased occupancy across the group’s CEE shopping centre portfolio, now at 96.6% at H111 (94.6% at H110).At 30 June 2011, while the group had no undrawn committed debt facilities, Atrium had EUR210m of cash deposits available, sufficient to pay the outstanding development costs and total debt maturities of EUR51m in H211 and 2012. With only EUR8m of committed development spending, Atrium’s liquidity remains relatively strong (with a liquidity score of around 4.1x at H111). A liquidity score of at least 1.75x is considered appropriate for a return to a ‘BBB-’ IDR rating.

CALGARY, Alberta Oct 14 (Reuters) - TransCanada Corp has shut down its Keystone oil pipeline to the U.S. Midwest from Canada due to a backlog of crude supplies within Alberta, the company said on Friday.TransCanada’s 591,000 barrel a day pipeline, which extends to southern Illinois and the Cushing, Oklahoma, storage hub, may be back in service on Friday after the company shut it down a day earlier, spokesman Terry Cunha said in an email.The outage stems from a glut of inventory at Enbridge Inc’s Superior, Wisconsin, storage facility, which has slowed its system, Cunha said.As a result, volumes have been backed up in Edmonton, preventing Keystone shippers from moving oil to that pipeline at Hardisty, Alberta.”We have been assured by our shippers that they will begin providing their committed volumes today, enabling the restart of the Keystone pipeline,” he said.Enbridge officials were not immediately available for comment on the situation.TransCanada does not expect to be forced to revise its October shipments as a result of the issue.

* Sees FY2011 OIBDA $210-$220 mln vs prior view $236-$246 mln* Expects Q3 to meet outlook* Shares fall 17 pct in after-market tradeOct 13 - In-theatre digital advertising company National CineMedia Inc slashed its full-year outlook as advertisers chose to spend a bigger chunk of their budgets on television commercials before a weak economy curtailed their spending.The dim outlook drove the company’s shares down nearly 17 percent to $12.25 in extended trade. They had closed at $14.75 on Thursday on Nasdaq.The Centennial, Colorado-based company cut its full-year 2011 revenue outlook to $425-$435 million, from its prior forecast of $460-$470 million.Analysts, on average, were expecting full-year revenue of $464.9 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.National CineMedia also lowered its full-year outlook for adjusted OIBDA (Operating Income Before Depreciation and Amortization) to $210-$220 million from $236-$246 million.The company, however, said third-quarter results will be within its outlook of a 5-9 percent rise in adjusted OIBDA from the prior year.