Summary: Wesfarmers Ltd. Jun 11

Standard & Poors, June 2011

Abstract
The ratings on Wesfarmers Ltd. reflect our opinion of the company's large and diverse portfolio of Australian-based businesses; material exposure to duopoly-like, recession-resistant food retailing; strong management; long-term investment focus; and disciplined approach to capital management. These strengths, in our view, temper the group's exposure to volatile coal prices and cyclical demand from the discretionary retail and industrial supply sectors; the group's 'intermediate' financial risk profile; and the funding and execution risks associated with the group's evolving mix of businesses. Although Wesfarmers' earnings are concentrated in the Australian and New Zealand retailing sector, its retail operations are diversified across a range of brands and discretionary and non-discretionary retailing segments. The group also has a material exposure to non-retailing businesses, including...

Companies mentioned in this report are:
- Wesfarmers Ltd.
- Lumley General Insurance (N.Z.) Ltd.
- Wesfarmers General Insurance Ltd.
- Wesfarmers Federation Insurance Ltd.

Action: Review

Standard and Poors RatingsXpress Credit Research provides in-depth coverage of international corporates, financial institutions, insurance companies, utilities, sovereigns and structured finance programs. RatingsXpress Credit Research lets users determine the credit rating of holdings and identify key factors underlying an issuer's creditworthiness, distinguishes the different risk exposures for new and existing deals, and provides an understanding of how their analysts interpret key regulatory, political and environmental events and their economic impact.

This product consists of a Summary Analysis: Bi-annual (at least). An abbreviated analysis containing Standard & Poor's issuer credit ratings as of the time the article was published. The analysis includes a rating rationale - the basis on which the rating was assigned - and an outlook section if the issuer is not on CreditWatch. Financial statistics are not included.

- Wesfarmers Ltd.
- Lumley General Insurance (N.Z.) Ltd.
- Wesfarmers General Insurance Ltd.
- Wesfarmers Federation Insurance Ltd.

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