On April 8, 2002, Standard&Poor's lowered its long-term ratings on Germany-based telecommunications operator Deutsche Telekom AG, affirmed its short-term ratings on the company, and removed all ratings from CreditWatch, where they were placed on Feb. 26, 2002. The downgrade reflects the expectation that Deutsche Telekom will not sufficiently improve its credit profile in the short-to-medium term, due, in the main, to expected delays in debt reduction. The expected delay does not, however, reflect any reduction in the commitment of Deutsche Telekom to deleverage. Given the substantial reduction in asset valuations in the global telecoms sector (as reflected in the 35% decline in Deutsche Telekom's share price over the past 12 months), there is a risk that the planned
