The ratings on Toronto-based Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd. reflect the company's leading position as the country's largest hard goods retailer, established through strong branding and extensive market coverage. The ratings are further supported by what Standard&Poor's Ratings Services views as the company's resilient earnings in challenging market conditions compared with that of its peers, in addition to its well-managed financial services operation that contributes significantly to operating income. These factors are partially offset by what we see as a very competitive operating environment and the general slowing of the Canadian economy leading to negative same-store sales (SSS) at the company's core Canadian Tire Retail (CTR) stores year-to-date (YTD), and higher than historical average net write-off rates on the
