Standard & Poor’s (S&P), the global credit rating service, late last week upgraded Dell’s corporate credit rating from BB- to BB+, with a “Stable” outlook, a two-notch upgrade from where it was placed more than a year ago as Dell went private.
In revising its rating, S&P noted Dell’s prudent balance sheet management and the expectation that Dell will continue to reduce debt. The two-notch upgrade – one below investment grade – is an indicator of Dell’s ongoing performance and profitability, and also reiterates the company’s ability to strategically use its balance sheet to support the needs of customers.
“This upgrade from Standard and Poor’s reflects our focus on customers, resulting performance and growth, and our ability to drive cash flow enabling us to pay down our debt position,” said Tom Sweet, Dell’s CFO.
For more, read S&P’s full release and a summary from FT. In addition, the upgrade improves supplier relationships, helps lower borrowing costs, and ultimately, provides broader access to credit and capital.
Laura Pevehouse was profiled as one of five “social media mavens” in the March 2009 issue of Austin Woman Magazine and named an AdWeek’s TweetFreak Five to Follow. She has been part of the Dell organization for more than 15 years in various corporate communications, employee communications, public relations, community affairs, marketing, branding, social media and online communication roles.
From 2014-2018, Laura was Chief Blogger/Editor-in-Chief for Direct2DellEMC and Direct2Dell, Dell’s official corporate blog that she help launch in 2007. She is now a member of the Dell Technologies Chairman Communications team. Earlier in her Dell career she focused on Global Commercial Channels and US Small and Medium Business public relations as part of the Global Communications team. Prior to that, she was responsible for global strategy in social media and community management, as well as marcom landing pages, as a member of Dell’s Global SMB Marketing, Brand and Creative team. When she was part of Dell’s Global Online group, Laura provided internal consulting that integrated online and social media opportunities with a focus on Corporate Communications and Investor Relations. She managed the home page of Dell.com, one of the top 500 global web sites in Alexa traffic rank, and first brought web feeds and podcasts to the ecommerce site. In her spare time she led Dell into the metaverse with the creation of Dell Island in the virtual world Second Life.
Laura has earned the designation of Accredited Business Communicator from the International Association of Business Communicators, and received her Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from Louisiana State University. Before joining Dell Financial Services in 2000, she worked at the Texas Workforce Commission and PepsiCo Food Systems Worldwide.
