Bulletin: Kimberly-Clark Corp. Ratings Unaffected By Restructuring Announcement

CHICAGO (S&P Global Ratings) Jan. 23, 2018--S&P Global Ratings said today that its ratings and outlook on Dallas-based Kimberly-Clark Corp. (A/Stable/A-1) are not affected by the consumer products company's announcement that it will commence a multiyear global restructuring program in order to improve its cost structure. Although cash restructuring costs could result in adjusted debt to EBITDA increasing to slightly above 2x over the next year, this is still below our downgrade trigger, and we believe any credit measure deterioration will be temporary. We believe there has been no change in the company's financial policy, and assume Kimberly-Clark's competitive position and profitability will strengthen over the next few years as a result of this new initiative and ongoing cost reduction

...CHICAGO (S&P Global Ratings) Jan. 23, 2018--S&P Global Ratings said today that its ratings and outlook on Dallas-based Kimberly-Clark Corp. (A/Stable/A-1) are not affected by the consumer products company's announcement that it will commence a multiyear global restructuring program in order to improve its cost structure. Although cash restructuring costs could result in adjusted debt to EBITDA increasing to slightly above 2x over the next year, this is still below our downgrade trigger, and we believe any credit measure deterioration will be temporary. We believe there has been no change in the company's financial policy, and assume Kimberly-Clark's competitive position and profitability will strengthen over the next few years as a result of this new initiative and ongoing cost reduction programs, despite lackluster expected demand for its products over the near term. For our latest research, see the summary analysis on Kimberly-Clark Corp. published Nov. 17, 2017. Only a rating committee...

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