PARIS (Standard&Poor's) July 26, 2002--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that it has lowered to triple-'B' plus from single-'A'-minus its long-term corporate credit rating on France-based Cap Gemini S.A., the largest European consulting and IT services provider. The downgrade primarily reflects Cap Gemini's weakened profitability and ongoing restructuring costs in the challenging global IT services and consulting environment. The outlook remains stable. "Significantly reduced corporate IT spending worldwide further pressured revenues and margins in the first half of 2002," said Standard&Poor's credit analyst Patrice Cochelin. Cap Gemini's like-for-like revenues fell 14.5% over the period, while the EBITA margin tumbled to just 0.3%, from 6.1% and 8.5% in first-half 2001 and first-half 2000, respectively. The challenging
