On April 15, 2003, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services placed the 'AA' corporate credit and senior unsecured debt ratings of Kimberly-Clark Corp. on CreditWatch with negative implications. The 'A-1+' short-term and commercial paper ratings were affirmed and not placed on CreditWatch. The CreditWatch listing reflects the company's large and growing unfunded postretirement benefit obligations. While ratings have incorporated the liabilities associated with postretirement benefit obligations in the past, the decline in interest rates and the stock market, as well as increasing health care costs over the past two years have caused liabilities to increase meaningfully. At year-end 2002, the pension was underfunded by $986 million and the post-retiree health obligation was $751 million. This compares with an overfunded pension position
