On Feb. 12, 2009, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services placed its 'A' long-term and 'A-1' short-term corporate credit ratings on Sweden-based tools and mining equipment manufacturer Sandvik AB on CreditWatch with negative implications. At the same time, the 'K-1' Nordic national scale rating on the company was affirmed. The CreditWatch placement reflects the risk of a one-notch downgrade, in light of a negative revision of our financial base-case scenario. Sandvik's financial performance in 2007 and 2008 was not consistent with our benchmark for the current ratings because of high debt and weakening operating cash generation. The rating assumes that Sandvik's cash flow debt-protection measures will improve in the short-term and be in line with our rating guidelines. However, we see
