On June 17, 2015, Woolworths downgraded its fiscal 2015 earnings guidance following its weaker-than-expected sales performance and announced that its CEO would be leaving the company. The group also announced additional restructuring costs of approximately A$270 million. These announcements come at a time when Woolworths faces intensifying competition in its core Australian supermarket business, which is pressuring the group's competitive position and financial risk profile. As a result, we have revised the outlook on the long-term rating to negative from stable, reflecting at least a one-in-three chance of a downgrade to 'BBB+'. At the same time, we have affirmed the ratings on the company at 'A-/A-2'. On June 18, 2015, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services revised the rating outlook on
