On July 3, 2008, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services revised its outlook on U.K.-based leading apparel retailer Marks&Spencer PLC (M&S) to negative from stable, after the group reported weaker-than-expected trading performance for the 13 weeks to June 28, 2008. At the same time, Standard&Poor's lowered to 'A-3' from 'A-2' its short-term corporate credit rating and affirmed its 'BBB' long-term corporate credit rating on the group. The outlook revision follows M&S' weakening trading performance, especially at its food division, as demonstrated by a negative like-for-like sales growth for the last three quarters, with the marked deterioration during the first quarter of 2009 when the same store food sales declined by 4.5%, which has led to a loss
