FRANKFURT (Standard&Poor's) July 17, 2007--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today it revised to positive from stable the outlooks on Germany-based Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen (Helaba) and on the 50 savings banks in the German states of Hesse and Thuringia--collectively "S-Finanzgruppe Hessen-Thüringen" (SFHT). At the same time, Standard&Poor's affirmed its long-term 'A' and short-term 'A-1' counterparty credit and certificate of deposit ratings. "The outlook changes mainly reflect further progress of the sector in achieving improvements in asset quality and capitalization, including the restructuring of two important member savings banks, and the gradual improvement in Helaba's sustainable profitability levels, which should benefit from improving profitability at Frankfurter Sparkasse (Fraspa)," said Standard&Poor's credit analyst Bernd Ackermann. "The outlook
