S&P may cut three supermarkets

Standard & Poor's said it placed the ratings on three supermarket companies on CreditWatch with negative implications. They are Safeway Inc. (BBB/Watch negative/A-2), Stater Bros. Holdings Inc. (B+/Watch negative) and Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. Inc. (B/Watch negative).

The action reflects the possibility that ratings could be lowered or revised in the near term to incorporate the agency's review of multi-employer pension liability given market declines experienced in 2008. S&P said it views multi-employer pension liabilities as debt-like obligations.

"While stock market performance year to date has been relatively unchanged, we believe that there is a risk that the funded status for many multi-employer pension plans has deteriorated and could represent meaningful obligations for plan participants because of the severe decline in market performance in 2008," S&P analyst Stella Kapur said in a statement.

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