On July 17, 2003, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services lowered its senior unsecured debt, preliminary shelf, and corporate credit ratings on Kimberly-Clark Corp. to 'AA-' from 'AA'. These ratings were removed from CreditWatch, where they were placed on April 15, 2003. Standard&Poor's affirmed its 'A-1+' short-term corporate credit and commercial paper ratings on Kimberly-Clark, a leading tissue, personal care, and health care products manufacturer. The outlook is stable. Total debt outstanding was about $4.4 billion (inclusive of preferred securities of subsidiary) at March 31, 2003. The downgrade reflects Kimberly-Clark's heightened challenges in the competitive U.S. and European consumer products markets, softer yet still strong operating margins, as well as the growth of unfunded pension and other post-retirement benefits
