LONDON (Standard&Poor's) Jan. 13, 2004--Standard&Poor's Rating Services said today it 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. At Aug. 9, 2003, Tesco had estimated net debt (capitalized for operating leases and pension deficit) of £6.4 billion. "From a financial risk perspective, we believe 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
