On Jan. 13, 2004, Standard&Poor's Rating Services revised its outlook on the leading U.K.-based food retailer Tesco PLC to stable from negative, following the company's announcement of an £810 million ($1.5 billion) equity issue that will help improve the company's financial profile. At the same time, Standard&Poor's affirmed all its ratings on Tesco, including its 'A+/A-1' corporate credit ratings on the company. From a financial risk perspective, Standard&Poor's believes the equity issue will allow Tesco's debt-protection measures to recover to levels commensurate with the ratings on the company from their existing weak levels. Standard&Poor's estimates that, on a pro forma basis in 2004, Tesco's lease-adjusted funds from operations (FFO) to net debt
