On March 10, 2006, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services lowered its corporate credit ratings on The Netherlands-based mail, express, and logistics group TNT N.V. to 'A-/A-2' from 'A/A-1', owing to the company's revised financial policy. At the same time, the ratings were removed from CreditWatch, where they were placed on Dec. 6, 2005. The outlook is negative. The downgrade reflects Standard&Poor's view that TNT's credit protection measures no longer reach the level required for the previous 'A' rating of funds from operations (FFO) to pension- and lease-adjusted net debt of about 40%. TNT's financial profile has weakened over the past few months, following share repurchases of about €700 million since December 2005, which is part of a €1
