On Feb. 21, 2007, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services affirmed its 'A/A-1' corporate credit ratings on global, diversified mining group Anglo American PLC (Anglo), following the group's announcement of strong full-year 2006 results and a new $3 billion capital-management program. The outlook is stable. The affirmation reflects our view that Anglo's financial risk profile will remain strong and in line with the ratings. This reflects the group's continued very strong cash flow generation, which stems from robust market conditions and continues to exceed our expectations. We do not regard the additional shareholder distribution as signaling a more aggressive financial policy--rather a deployment of surplus cash that Anglo does not presently need. Nevertheless, the surplus cash could have been used to
