GTE Corp, despite the $530m it will get from the sale of its 19.9% stake in US Sprint Communications Co to United Telecommunications Inc, has Standard & Poor’s Corp worried, and the agency has put its ratings on the Stamford, Connecticut phone company’s $19,000m of debt and preferred stock on its CreditWatch list with negative implications; it says it is concerned about the extent to which GTE has made progress in reducing its financial exposure in the wake of its acquisition of Contel Corp.
