On Jan. 12, 2009, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services affirmed its 'BB-' corporate credit and other ratings on The Goodyear Tire&Rubber Co. and removed them from CreditWatch, where they had been placed with negative implications on Nov. 13, 2008. The outlook is stable. The affirmation reflects our view that the company's credit measures will support the current rating. We expect adjusted debt to EBITDA to be less than 4x and funds from operations (FFO) to debt greater than 15%. These credit measures imply that 2009 revenue will decline by 2.5% and gross margin by 18%. Based on the 12 months ended Sept. 30, 2008, these measures were 3.9x and 18%, respectively. We continue to closely monitor the effect
