ServiceMaster's Outlook Downgraded <b></b>

Jan 13, 2004

Chicago-New York-based credit rating agency Fitch Ratings downgraded the outlook for Downers Grove, Illinois-based ServiceMaster Co. to stable from positive, citing "potentially weaker-than-expected results" for its Terminix pest control and TruGreen lawn care units, its two biggest businesses. Fitch said it was concerned, among other things, that ServiceMaster's marketing costs would rise in the wake of the new, federal "do-not-call" rules that limit telemarketing. -Crain's Chicago Business

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