Momentive Specialty Chemicals' Debt Refinancing Prompts A S

Standard & Poor's recently affirmed its ratings on Momentive Specialty Chemicals Inc. in connection with a refinancing that will extend debt maturities. Our corporate credit rating on the company is 'B-', and the outlook is stable. The company's results are vulnerable to economic cycles and volatile raw material costs. After a weak performance in fourth-quarter 2011, we believe Momentive's first-half 2012 results will compare unfavorably to those of first-half 2011 but strengthen somewhat in the second half. In this CreditMatters TV segment, Director Cindy Werneth discusses our view of Momentive's liquidity and how we assess its credit quality in the context of its relationship with its sister company, Momentive Performance Materials Inc.