U.S. specialty apparel retailer Gap Inc. has improved operating performance with meaningfully increased operating margins and consistent positive same store sales, which warranted a change in our assessment of Gap's business risk profile to "satisfactory" from "fair". We are raising our ratings on Gap, including the corporate credit rating, to 'BBB-' from 'BB+'. The stable outlook reflects our expectation that operating performance will remain good and credit metrics will continue to be in line with an intermediate financial risk profile. On May 10, 2013, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services raised its ratings, including the corporate credit rating, on San Francisco-based specialty apparel retailer The Gap Inc. (Gap) to 'BBB-' from 'BB+'. The outlook is stable. We based the upgrade on
