On Nov. 15, 2007, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services placed its ratings, including its 'BBB+' long-term corporate credit rating, on Toronto-based retailer Loblaw Companies Ltd. on CreditWatch with negative implications. At the same time, we placed the ratings on parent company George Weston Ltd., including the 'BBB' long-term corporate credit rating, on CreditWatch with negative implications. The CreditWatch placement follows Loblaw's announcement of its very weak third-quarter performance (ended Oct. 6, 2007). Despite third-quarter sales growth of 1.4% on a 1.6% same-store sales increase compared with the same quarter in 2006, reported adjusted EBITDA (excluding certain one-time charges) declined 25.4% for the quarter and 16.1% year-to-date. As a result, Loblaw's reported adjusted EBITDA margin declined to 5.3% from 7.3% for
