On Oct. 25, 2007, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services lowered its ratings on Toronto-based private label soft drink manufacturer Cott Corp. by one notch, including its long-term corporate credit rating to 'B' from 'B+'. At the same time, we removed the ratings from CreditWatch with negative implications, where they were placed Oct. 2, 2007. The outlook is negative. The downgrade reflects Cott's weakened financial performance for the third quarter and year-to-date 2007, which was below Standard&Poor's expectations. This poor performance included a material decline in gross margin and operating profit, volume declines in key carbonated soft drink (CSD) markets, higher raw material costs, inefficient operations, and weakened credit protection measures. Cott's gross margin dropped to 11.6% for the
