GM credit rating upgraded to BB+

GM credit rating upgraded to BB+

DETROIT

General Motors received a credit-rating upgrade from one of the three major ratings agencies Friday in a vote of confidence that the company has improved its financial standing and can weather challenges in Europe.

Fitch Ratings upgraded GM’s issuer default rating from BB to BB+ and said the outlook for the future is stable.

The upgrade comes as GM is generating big profits in North America but facing steep losses in Europe, where consumers are conserving cash in the midst of a sovereign debt crisis. Overcapacity has prompted automakers to offer deep discounts on vehicles.

Court upholds block on graphic warnings

RICHMOND, Va.

The federal government can’t require tobacco companies to put large, graphic health warnings on cigarette packages to show that smoking can disfigure and even kill people, a divided federal appeals court panel ruled Friday.

In a 2-1 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington affirmed a lower-court ruling that the requirement ran afoul of the First Amendment’s free-speech protections.

The appeals court tossed out the requirement and told the Food and Drug Administration to go back to the drawing board.

P&G CEO’s pay declines 6 percent

NEW YORK

Procter & Gamble Co.’s CEO Bob McDonald’s compensation declined 6 percent to $15.2 million during his third year at the helm of the world’s largest consumer-products maker, whose performance has been tripped up with missteps in pricing and balancing growth in key markets

McDonald, 59, who became CEO and president in June 2009 and added the title of chairman in January 2010, received a base salary of $1.6 million for the year ended June 30, according to documents filed Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

That was unchanged from the prior year.

But his cash-based bonus of $2.4 million was down 8 percent, and he received stock options that were valued at $4.4 million, down 29 percent from $6.17 million in the prior year.

From wire reports