The ratings on Decatur, Ill.-based Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM) reflect a strong business risk profile, which factor in the company's position as one of the world's leading agribusiness companies, with major North American market positions in agricultural processing, merchandising, and ethanol production. Standard&Poor's Ratings Services views ADM's financial profile as intermediate, which reflects a highly liquid balance sheet and a recent history of maintaining credit measures that are close to medians for the 'BBB' rating category. These include a debt to EBITDA ratio of about 2.6x for the 12 months ended March 31, 2011, which we believe will improve to closer to 2x by fiscal year-end 2012 (ended June 30, 2012). In addition, we believe the company