Large size, vertical integration, and strong market positions. Local and often highly consolidated markets. Broad end-market and geographic diversity. Still-heavy debt burden and expansive financial policy. Cyclicality, seasonality, and high capital and energy intensity. Sizable exposure to markets that remain depressed. The ratings on Germany-based heavy materials manufacturer HeidelbergCement AG reflect Standard&Poor's Ratings Services' view of the group's ability to improve to, and maintain, a significant financial risk profile as a consequence of the group's consistent allocation of cash flow to deleveraging. We believe that HeidelbergCement's key U.S. and western European markets are unlikely to meaningfully recover in 2011. Even so, we do not anticipate that this will impair HeidelbergCement's ability to generate sustainable operating cash flow, which,
