Standard & Poor's stripped General Electric Co of its top-tier credit rating, lowering its rating by one notch to AA-plus with a stable outlook, citing the credit profile of the GE Capital unit.

This will result, in our opinion, in rising credit losses across key segments of its finance portfolio. This is also causing weakening of the value of its real estate holdings and investment securities, S&P said.

(Reporting by Nick Zieminski, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)