Temple-Inland gets improved S & P rating.

TEMPLE-INLAND GETS IMPROVED S & P RATING. Standard & Poor's Rating Services (S & P), New York, New York, USA raised its short-term ratings on Temple-Inland Inc. to 'A-2' from 'A-3'. At the same time, S & P affirmed its long-term ratings on the company, including the 'BBB' corporate credit rating, and revised the outlook to stable from negative. "These rating actions reflect the strengthening of the company's financial profile during the past few quarters through debt reduction and improving earnings and cash flow," said S & P Credit Analyst Cynthia Werneth. It has been two years since Temple-Inland acquired Gaylord Container Corp. Since then Temple-Inland has reduced net debt, including capitalized operating leases, by nearly US$ 500 million to about US$ 1.7 billion. Debt reduction has been facilitated by steady earnings and cash flow generated by the company's financial services subsidiary, operating cost reductions, asset sales, and recently, very robust building products markets and improvement in demand and pricing for corrugated packaging.