Standard & Poor's Ratings Services today lowered its long-term corporate credit and debt ratings on Panasonic Corp. to 'A-' from 'A'. We lowered the short-term corporate credit rating on the company to 'A-2' from 'A-1'. The downgrade reflects our view that an early restoration of the company's financial soundness to levels commensurate with the previous ratings has become highly unlikely due to a huge expected loss in fiscal 2011 (ending March 31, 2012). We base the negative outlook on our expectation that the challenging industry environment for Panasonic will continue to pressure its earnings.