We believe that, in light of currently difficult industry conditions, U.K.-based retailer Tesco PLC will continue to see a trend of weaker profitability and top-line pressure. In our opinion, turning around the negative operating trends will take longer than we previously anticipated because we foresee that macroeconomic conditions will remain challenging in the U.K. and Europe for the rest of 2013. Accordingly, we are revising downward our assessment of Tesco's business risk profile to "strong" from "excellent." We are lowering our long-term corporate credit rating on Tesco to 'BBB+' from 'A-' and affirming our 'A-2' short-term corporate credit rating on the group. The stable outlook on Tesco reflects our view that lower capital expenditure and management's commitment to improve free
