LafargeHolcim Ltd.

The stable outlook reflects our view that LafargeHolcim is well equipped from a credit perspective to withstand the challenging macroeconomic environment caused by the pandemic. This factors in the company's strong liquidity position and our forecast of FFO to debt comfortably above 22% in the coming years. We also believe that it will maintain a conservative financial policy, with a balanced approach to investments, acquisitions, and dividends. We do not anticipate lowering the rating on LafargeHolcim, given the rating headroom. However, we could revise the outlook to negative if the company's profitability and cash flow proved less resilient to the recession than we anticipate. We believe this could happen if the pandemic extended beyond 2020, leading to a more significant

...S&P Global Ratings anticipates that the building materials industry will be hit by the pandemic-induced recession in 2020, with progressive recovery in 2021. In Europe, the reduced activity in first-half 2020 was clear in countries with mandated temporary shutdowns, for example in the U.K., France, Italy, and Spain, where the lockdown was longer and more restrictive than in the Central, Eastern, and Northern Europe. In the U.S. and Latin America, where the infection rates are still rising, we believe that recovery will depend on how quickly the pandemic is brought under control. We assume that the subdued activity in first-half 2020 will be followed by a rebound in the second half of the year and into 2021, as economies gradually open and construction slowly resumes. Still, the pace and strength of the recovery and the risk of secondary outbreaks are the main risk factors. LafargeHolcim Ltd. has healthy rating headroom, despite the cancelled disposal of the company's 85.7% shareholding...

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