On July 15, 2008, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services placed all of its ratings on Kimberly-Clark Corp., including the 'A+' corporate credit and 'A-1' short-term commercial paper ratings, on CreditWatch with negative implications. Approximately $6.7 billion of debt and preferred stock was outstanding as of March 31, 2008. The CreditWatch listing is based on the company's recent announcement that it has significantly lowered its earnings guidance for the remainder of fiscal 2008 because of continued increases in commodity costs. While the Dallas-based manufacturer and marketer of household and personal care products continues to take price increases and reduce costs to help offset the impact, its EBITDA margins have weakened below 20% from the mid-20% area over the past several years.
