P&G, Colgate Top S&P Consumer Products Bond Ratings

Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) tops Standard & Poor’s ranking of consumer products bond ratings, followed closely by competitor Colgate Palmolive (NYSE: CL), with Sysco (NYSE: SYY) in third place. These are the only companies in the sector with an AA- rating.

S&P says about 31% of companies in the sector are in the more stable investment-grade category, with the remaining 69% in the more volatile speculative-grade category. In 2007, downgrades outnumbered upgrades in the sector by about three to one, and this negative trend has continued into the first nine months of 2008, with a ratio of about 2.5 to 1. About 37% of issuers in the sector had either a negative outlook or were on CreditWatch with negative implications.

… just close to 7% of sector issuers had either a positive outlook or were on CreditWatch with positive implications.

Eurofresh had the lowest ranking, followed by GTM Holdings (Gold Toe).

The full list ranks all the rated companies in this industry from strongest to weakest, based on rating and outlook. Companies with the same rating and outlook are further ranked by S&P’s opinion of credit quality, based primarily on business risks for investment-grade companies and primarily on financial risks for speculative-grade companies.