Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC (Hikma) continued to deliver robust operating performance last year, while maintaining very conservative debt-protection metrics. We believe that Hikma's well-diversified portfolio, with an established position in U.S injectable generics and a recently optimized cost base, should support further earnings growth and cash flow generation. We are raising our issuer credit rating on Hikma to 'BBB-' from 'BB+'. The outlook is stable because we assume that Hikma will continue to profitably expand organically or potentially through mergers and acquisitions (M&A) while maintaining debt to EBITDA below 2.5x on a sustainable basis and solid free operating cash flow (FOCF) generation. The stable outlook reflects our view that Hikma will continue to display consistent, profitable, organic growth, and could potentially
