On April 8, 2008, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services affirmed its ratings, including the 'BBB' long-term corporate credit rating, on Toronto-based George Weston Ltd. At the same time, we removed the ratings from CreditWatch, where they were placed Nov. 15, 2007, following Loblaw Companies Ltd.'s (BBB/Negative/--) announcement of its very weak performance. The outlook is negative. We base the affirmation on our current assessment of the interplay between George Weston's main credit factors, namely the performance of its 62%-owned subsidiary Loblaw, the performance of Weston Foods, and the financial flexibility of the parent company. Although this affirmation indicates that George Weston and Loblaw are rated the same, the rating relationship between the two remains one of linkage, not equalization, with
