S&P upgrades Henkel’s credit ratings to A/A-1

As a result of Henkel’s improved financial profile and its continued solid business performance, the rating agency Standard & Poor’s today upgraded Henkel’s Corporate credit ratings to “A” long-term and “A-1” short-term (from “A-“ and “A-2” resp.). The outlook is stable.

“We are pleased about the rating upgrade which reflects both our continuous efforts to improve our financial position by reducing net debt and the quality of our business results over the last quarters,” commented Henkel CFO Lothar Steinebach. “By regaining our target rating we will further improve Henkel's high credit quality and our excellent access to the capital markets.”

Over the last two years Henkel has reduced its net debt by almost 2 billion euros from about 4,090 million euros (Q1/2009) to 2,125 million euros (Q1/2011).