NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) Dec. 17, 2013--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that its 'A' corporate credit rating (with a negative outlook) on Decatur, Ill.-based Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM) is not affected by ADM's Dec. 16 announcement that it will increase its cash dividend by approximately 26%, to 24 cents per share, and that it intends to buy back 18 million shares of its stock by the end of 2014, including possible additional repurchases if it receives significant proceeds from asset sales. This follows the Australian government's announcement that it had prohibited ADM's proposed acquisition of GrainCorp Limited. Based on the company's current credit measures, we believe the company's future discretionary cash flows will permit the company
