S&P lifts Smurfit Kappa

Standard & Poor's said it raised its long-term corporate credit rating on Smurfit Kappa Group Ltd. to BB- from B+.

In addition, all other long-term corporate credit, secured and unsecured ratings on the company and related entities were raised by one notch, the agency said.

At the same time, all ratings were removed from CreditWatch where they were placed with positive implications on Jan. 10, S&P noted.

The outlook is stable.

S&P said it also affirmed the recovery rating of 3 on two group facilities and the upgrade reflects the group's successful pricing of a €1.3 billion IPO to be used to repay part of its high cost debt.

The group's credit measures are expected to continue to improve in 2007, thanks to a gradually improving operating performance, the agency added.

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