On June 22, 2007 Standard&Poor's Rating Services affirmed its 'BBB+/A-2' issuer credit ratings on Bank of Queensland Ltd. (BoQ) and revised the outlook on the ratings to stable from positive. These rating actions follow the announcement that a revised informal offer had been rejected by Bendigo Bank Ltd. (Bendigo Bank). Standard&Poor's had initially stated that a stable outlook would be the outcome if the proposal was unsuccessful. The outlooks on BoQ and Bendigo Bank were originally revised to positive from stable on March 20, 2007 based on possible improvements to the combined group's scale and geographic diversity if the proposal were successful. The ratings on BoQ reflect improvements, which are likely to be sustained and further
