MADRID (S&P Global Ratings) Sept. 24, 2021--S&P Global Ratings said today that medical laboratory group Synlab AG's (BB-/Stable/--) outstanding sales results, margin improvement, and further debt reduction during the first nine months of the year imply increasing rating headroom. We expect the company's S&P Global Ratings-adjusted leverage can stay comfortably with the 4.0x-4.5x range in the next 12-24 months. Germany-based Synlab remains a key partner in the global COVID-19 response, with over 14.5 million PCR tests performed since the start of this year. During the first half of 2021, the company reported sales of about €1.9 billion and EBITDA of €663 million, well exceeding our forecasts and comparable with its full-year 2020 results. Although we believe most of the contribution
