LONDON (Standard&Poor's) Nov. 23, 2011--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that its rating and outlook on U.K.-based food services company Compass Group PLC (Compass; A-/Stable/--) are unaffected by the announcement that Compass' board of directors has approved a £500 million share buyback program to be implemented over the next 12 months. In our view, this program can be accommodated within the current rating due to the group's financial flexibility and conservative financial policy, which we forecast will continue. We envisage that Compass' credit measures will remain commensurate with the current rating, with Standard&Poor's-adjusted funds from operations to debt of about 40% and adjusted debt to EBITDA of about 2x.
