NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's CreditWire) Dec. 21, 1999--Standard&Poor's today lowered its ratings for The Coca-Cola Co. (Coke), as indicated in the table below. In addition, Standard&Poor's lowered its long-term ratings for Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. (CCE), Coca-Cola Amatil Ltd. (CCA), Coca-Cola Amatil N.Z. Ltd., and Coca-Cola Amatil (Australia) Pty Ltd. (see list). These ratings are removed from CreditWatch, where they were placed with negative implications Sept. 9, 1999, following Coke's announcement that its third-quarter earnings were expected to fall below earlier expectations. In its Sept. 9 press release, Standard&Poor's indicated its expectation that recovery of already weakened credit measures for the Coke system would be slower than anticipated. The short-term ratings for CCE, CCA,
