• Adweek, Friday, February 13, 2009 9:30 AM

Standard & Poor's has placed its long-term ratings for Omnicom Group, on "CreditWatch with negative implications." The move comes two days after Omnicom reported a rough fourth-quarter in which its net income fell 14% to $271 million, from $314 million a year earlier.

"The CreditWatch placement is based on our view that the company's leverage will likely rise further beyond our threshold for an 'A-' rating and is unlikely to return within our threshold over the next one to two years," says S&P analyst Heather Goodchild. "We are also concerned about Omnicom's overall funding flexibility as a result of recent and potential debt puts." Omnicom had $3.1 billion of total debt as of Dec. 31, 2008.

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