On Nov. 11, 2008, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services revised its outlook on Sweden-based tool and mining equipment manufacturer Sandvik AB to negative from stable. At the same time, we affirmed the 'A' long-term and 'A-1' short-term corporate credit ratings and the 'K-1' Nordic national scale rating. The outlook revision reflects the increased risk of a ratings downgrade because Sandvik's credit measures are below those required for the 'A' rating and business conditions are weakening. We still expect that Sandvik's stronger cash conversion, cost reductions, and working capital improvement could help it in the short term to improve its credit metrics more in line with rating requirements, including reaching funds from operations (FFO) to debt of about 40%-45%, compared with
