LONDON (Standard&Poor's) Nov. 11, 2008--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that its ratings and outlook on French building manufacturer Compagnie de Saint-Gobain (BBB+/Negative/A-2) are unaffected by the group's announcement of an appeal against the European Commission's fine of €896 million imposed in respect of an automotive glass investigation in Europe. We note that the fine imposed on Saint-Gobain's Vitrage division represents about 95% of 2007 sales of the group's automotive glass business in Europe and is substantially higher than the €560 million provision set aside at year-end 2007. We therefore expect that this will likely lead to an adjustment of provisions at year-end 2008, although the magnitude of the adjustment is not yet known. The total cartel
