S&P: Whirlpool unchanged

Standard & Poor's said its rating and outlook for Whirlpool Corp. (BBB/stable/A-2) are unaffected by the company's weaker-than-expected first quarter earning for fiscal 2008.

The earnings were significantly below its previous expectations primarily due to weak demand in North America and higher raw material costs, the latter of which are expected to increase substantially for the full year 2008, the agency said.

S&P noted that the company's lower earnings expectations, together with somewhat elevated debt levels following its recent $500 million debt issuance and seasonal increase in short-term borrowings, have resulted in weakened credit measures, including debt to EBITDA of about 2.5x and funds from operations to total debt of about 20% compared with 2.1x and 26%, respectively, at fiscal year end 2007.

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