— The operating results of Switzerland-based personnel
services group Adecco S.A. remain strong and its
credit metrics are commensurate with the higher ‘BBB’ rating.— We are therefore raising our long-term corporate credit
rating on Adecco to ‘BBB’ from ‘BBB-‘.— The stable outlook reflects our view that Adecco’s
operating performance and credit metrics will remain resilient
to challenging economic conditions.Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services said today that it raised
its long-term corporate credit rating on Switzerland-based
personnel services group Adecco S.A. to ‘BBB’ from ‘BBB-‘. At
the same time, the short-term rating was raised to ‘A-2’ from
‘A-3’. The outlook is stable.The upgrades reflect our view that Adecco’s credit metrics
have outperformed our guidance for the ‘BBB-’ rating and have
rebounded more strongly than we anticipated from the downturn in
2009. The company had Standard & Poor’s-adjusted debt totaling
EUR1.9 billion on June 30, 2011. The company’s operating
performance has improved since the acquisition of MPS Group Inc.
in 2009, with rolling 12-month revenues of EUR21.1 billion on
June 30, 2011, up 25% from the same period in the prior year.We assess Adecco’s financial risk profile as intermediate.
This is supported by the company’s credit metrics, including a
ratio of funds from operations (FFO) to adjusted debt of 43.7%
and adjusted debt to EBITDA of 2.0x on June 30, 2011. We
forecast that these ratios will continue strengthening to reach
FFO to adjusted debt of more than 50% and adjusted debt to
EBITDA near 1.5x for calendar 2011.For 2012, given the possibility of a double-dip recession in
Europe and the U.S., we have considered a moderate stress
scenario, with revenues falling 5% and adjusted EBITDA margins
falling to 4%. Under these conditions, we forecast that Adecco’s
credit metrics will continue to improve. A harsher
scenario—which we have not factored into the ratings—of
revenues falling 30% and adjusted EBITDA margins dropping to
2.7%, would lower FFO to adjusted debt to more than 30% and
adjusted debt to EBITDA to about 3.0x.In our view, Adecco will maintain its solid operating
performance in the medium term, and the company’s financial risk
profile is strong enough to withstand a modest double-dip
recession. The outlook also reflects our forecast that credit
measures will remain commensurate with the ‘BBB’ rating, with
adjusted FFO to debt of about 35% and adjusted debt to EBITDA of
less than 2.5x. At this time, we do not see a further upgrade as
likely.Rating downside could occur if the company were to adopt a
more shareholder-friendly strategy and/or show an appetite for
material debt-financed acquisitions that would have a negative
effect on its financial risk profile. Although it is not our
forecasted scenario, rating downside could also arise if the
company’s operating performance were to deteriorate
significantly.RELATED CRITERIA AND RESEARCHAll articles listed below are available on RatingsDirect on
the Global Credit Portal, unless otherwise stated.— The Specter of a Double Dip in Europe Looms Larger, Oct.
4, 2011— Criteria Methodology: Business Risk/Financial Risk Matrix
Expanded, May 27, 2009— 2008 Corporate Criteria: Analytical Methodology, April
15, 2008— 2008 Corporate Criteria: Ratios And Adjustments, April
15, 2008