HeidelbergCement signals may miss rating
HeidelbergCement signalled it may miss this year’s goal of getting finances in line with an investment-grade credit rating, BusinessWeek reported.
Operating profit of more than EUR3bn and a debt-to-earnings ratio of below 2.8 are “mid-cycle” targets, investor relations manager Ozan Kacar said by telephone. The cement maker said in a Jan. 20 presentation that those were targets for this year.
“Whether we will be able to reach that this year, or 2011, or 2012 will depend on the global markets,” Kacar said.
HeidelbergCement’s long-term rating is BB- at Standard & Poor’s and Ba3 at Moody’s Investors Service, three levels below investment grade. It was rated as low as B- until Oct. 15 at S&P, six levels below investment grade, after it inflated borrowings with its $12 billion takeover of rival Hanson Plc.
Published under Cement News
