PARIS (Standard&Poor's) Sept. 9, 2004--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that it had lowered its long-term corporate credit and senior unsecured debt ratings on global information technology services provider Cap Gemini S.A. to 'BBB-' from 'BBB'. At the same time, Standard&Poor's placed the ratings on CreditWatch with negative implications. "The downgrade and CreditWatch placement follow Cap Gemini's announcement of a €20 million operating loss in the first half of 2004, and primarily reflect our concerns over the company's ability to rapidly lift its margins and restore positive free cash flow generation in the medium term, and over an outstanding covenant breach of Cap Gemini's €600 million revolving credit facility," said Standard&Poor's credit analyst
