DUBLIN (S&P Global Ratings) Feb. 25, 2021--S&P Global Ratings said today that Fresenius Group's still solid underlying growth prospects and capital allocation policies should compensate for the headwinds from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. These challenges include potentially waning government support across the group's main markets in 2021. Fresenius Medical Care (FMC, which accounted for about 49% of reported revenues and 58% of group EBITDA in 2020) says it could post a net income decline at a high-teens to mid-twenties percentage range in 2021, due to increasing mortality rates among dialysis patients and an elevated cost base. We expect the S&P Global Ratings-adjusted debt to EBITDA of FMC's majority shareholder Fresenius SE (FSE) spiking to close to 4.0x, assuming no further
