On Aug. 2, 2002, Standard & Poor's lowered its long-term corporate credit rating on Toshiba Corp. to 'BBB-'from 'BBB' based on the view that Toshiba will be unable to increase earnings from key businesses sufficiently to strengthen its weak financial profile and capital structure in the near term. In addition, the downgrade reflected concerns over the company's ability to strengthen its business position and earnings structure over the longer term. At the same time, Standard & Poor's affirmed its 'A-3' short-term credit rating on the company, and removed both ratings from CreditWatch, where they had been placed on April 26, 2002. The outlook on the long-term rating is negative. Unless Toshiba significantly improves the competitiveness of its strategic business units,
