S&P also upgrades Dürr rating
09/19/2008
Stuttgart, September 19, 2008 – Standard & Poor´s (S&P) has raised Dürr AG’s corporate credit rating from “B” to “B+”. At the same time, the rating for Dürr’s € 200 million corporate bond was upgraded from “CCC+” to “B-“. The outlook for both ratings is stable. Moody’s had already raised the Dürr ratings, also by one notch, on Monday.
S&P cited Dürr’s good operating performance in the past quarters and the capital increase in June as reasons for the upgrades. The rating agency also highlighted the company’s improved liquidity which is additionally strengthened by the € 440 million syndicated loan concluded on September 10. S&P expects the positive trend to continue, based on the ongoing measures to improve operating performance at Dürr.
Dürr’s CFO Ralph Heuwing commented: “Besides the successful refinancing, the rating upgrade is due chiefly to our continuous operative improvements. We will maintain this course and continue to focus on earnings enhancement and cash generation.”
The Dürr Group is a supplier of plant and equipment that commands leading global market positions in its areas of activity. Business with the automotive industry accounts for about 85% of its sales. Dürr also supplies innovative manufacturing and environmental technologies for the aircraft, mechanical engineering, chemical and pharmaceutical industries. The Dürr Group operates in the market through two divisions. The Paint and Assembly Systems division supplies production and painting technologies, mainly for automotive body & chassis manufacturing. The equipment and systems supplied by the Measuring and Process Systems division are used, among other things, for engine and transmission production and for final vehicle assembly. Dürr achieved sales of close to € 1.5 billion with approximately 6,000 employees in 2007. Dürr is present in 47 locations in 21 countries around the world.
Contact:
Dürr Aktiengesellschaft
Günter Dielmann / Mathias Christen
Corporate Communications & Investor Relations
Phone +49 (0)711 136-1785 / -1381
Fax +49 (0)711 136-1716
E-mail corpcom(at)durr.com
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Dürr AG corpcom(at)durr.com |