LONDON (Standard&Poor's) April 14, 2008--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that its corporate credit and debt ratings on South Africa-based utility ESKOM Holdings Ltd. remain on CreditWatch with negative implications. We placed the ratings on CreditWatch on Jan. 11, 2008, due to expectations of a material increase in ESKOM's capital expenditure program, in light of the tightening capacity margin in South Africa, as well as significant inflationary pressures, primarily on fuel prices and capital equipment. ESKOM has confirmed that it expects capital expenditures over the five years to 2012 to be South African rand (ZAR) 343 billion in nominal terms, compared with previous expectations of ZAR150 billion. This substantially higher amount, if funded largely with debt, would
