NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) June 18, 2004--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that the ratings and outlook on Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM, A+/Negative/A-1) would not be affected by the company's announcement that it had settled a civil class action lawsuit, which had alleged that the company had conspired to fix prices in the high fructose corn syrup market, for $400 million. The settlement is subject to court approval. It is expected that ADM will make the payment within the next month. The settlement does reduce the company's financial flexibility at a time when credit protection measures are still weak for the ratings, notwithstanding sizable cash, marketable securities, and commodity inventories on the balance sheet. Debt leverage, especially
