On Sept. 9, 2004, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services lowered its long-term corporate credit and senior unsecured debt ratings on global information technology services provider Cap Gemini S.A. to 'BBB-' from 'BBB'. At the same time, Standard&Poor's placed the ratings on CreditWatch with negative implications. The downgrade and CreditWatch placement follow Cap Gemini's announcement of a €20 million operating loss in the first half of 2004, and primarily reflect Standard&Poor's concerns over the company's ability to rapidly raise its margins and restore free cash flow generation in the medium term, and over an outstanding covenant breach of Cap Gemini's €600 million revolving credit facility. At June 30, 2004, Cap Gemini had consolidated gross debt of €876
