General Motors (GM) Ratings Affirmed by S&P

tandard & Poor's Ratings Services today affirmed its 'BBB-' corporate credit rating on U.S. automaker General Motors Co. (GM)(NYSE: GM). The outlook remains stable. All issue-level ratings remain unchanged.

"The ratings affirmation reflects our view that the company's liquidity, credit metrics, and steady positive free cash flow prospects through the end of 2016 are sufficient to absorb outflows related to the announced shareholder actions without meaningfully impairing its credit quality," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Nishit Madlani. "We expect GM to execute on its future shareholder return policies while ensuring that cash availability remains sufficient (consistent with its minimum target of $20 billion) to meet ongoing operational needs, with some cushion for legal and other business contingencies."

The stable rating outlook reflects Standard & Poor's view that global operating performance continues to support favorable automotive cash flow and profitability for GM in 2015 and 2016. The higher level of share repurchases than our previous expectations and the associated leverage increase leaves the company with a more limited, but still sufficient, cushion compared with the benchmarks for the current rating in the event of a downturn in the automotive industry.

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