On Jan. 13, 2012, Standard&Poor's lowered its long-term sovereign credit rating on the Republic of Austria to 'AA+' from 'AAA'. We equalize the ratings on Austrian state-owned Autobahnen- und Schnellstrassen-Finanzierungs-AG (ASFINAG) with those on Austria, owing to our view of an "almost certain" likelihood of timely and sufficient extraordinary government support for ASFINAG in case of need. Consequently, we are lowering our long-term ratings on ASFINAG to 'AA+' from 'AAA' and removing them from CreditWatch negative. We are affirming the 'A-1+' short-term rating. The negative outlook reflects that on the Republic of Austria. On Jan. 17, 2012, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services lowered its long-term issuer credit ratings on Autobahnen- und Schnellstrassen-Finanzierungs-AG (ASFINAG) to 'AA+' from 'AAA'. At
