With ratings in the A and A2 category respectively Henkel has investment grade credit ratings. Henkel is rated as follows (last modification: August 2007):

On August 13, 2007, Moody's changed Henkel's rating outlook from "stable" to "negative" following the company's announcement of the back-to-back transaction with Akzo Nobel to acquire the National Starch Adhesives and Electronic Materials businesses, which is conditional on Akzo's takeover of ICI. The long-term credit rating was affirmed at "A2".

An overview about the credit rating categories from Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s can be found here.

A more current and market-based assessment of Henkel's credit-worthiness is the credit margin of the Henkel 2013 bond.

This is the risk premium that an investor demands in addition to the interest rate of a risk free investment. The credit margin as shown in the following chart is calculated by deducting the interbank yield for interest rate swaps of the same maturity from the yield of the Henkel 2013 bond. The lower the credit margin is, the better the capital market judges the credit-worthiness of Henkel.