MELBOURNE (Standard&Poor's) June 22, 2007--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that it had affirmed its 'BBB+/A-2' ratings on Bank of Queensland Ltd. (BoQ) and Bendigo Bank Ltd., and revised the outlook to stable from positive on each entity. These rating actions follow the announcement by BoQ yesterday that BoQ's revised proposal for a merger with Bendigo Bank had been subsequently rejected by Bendigo Bank. The board of BoQ also stated that it will not be pursuing the merger any further. "This is consistent with Standard&Poor's initial announcement on March 20, 2007 that the rating outlooks for both banks will revert to stable if the merger does not proceed," said Standard&Poor's credit analyst Thomas
