Kansas City, Mo ? The head of Aquila Inc. has told employees that he and other executives will have their pay cut as the company struggles to deal with its growing financial problems.

The latest setback for the former UtiliCorp United came on Tuesday when Standard & Poor’s Corp. downgraded its credit rating to junk bond status, which could require it to come up with $238 million in cash.

On Tuesday, CEO Richard Green Jr. told employees about the executive pay cuts and other new steps being taken to reduce expenses.

“Aquila executives will not receive annual or long-term incentives, merit increases or stock options for 2002 performance,” Green said.

That means that Green, who got $10 million in salary and bonuses for 2001, will earn about 10 percent of that amount this year. His salary last year was $972,000 and this year is around $990,000, according to company documents.