MELBOURNE (Standard & Poor's) Sept. 3, 2001--Standard & Poor's today lowered to single-'A' from single-'A'-plus the long-term corporate credit rating on Telecom Corp. of New Zealand Ltd. (TCNZ), the rating on TCNZ's Australian based subsidiary, AAPT Ltd. and associated debt issues, and the rating on TCNZ Finance Ltd.'s guaranteed senior unsecured debt issues. At the same time, Standard & Poor's affirmed its 'A-1' short-term corporate credit rating on TCNZ and AAPT, and lowered the ratings on Telecom New Zealand Finance Ltd.'s capital notes to triple-'B'-plus from single-'A'-minus. The outlook is stable. "The rating adjustment reflects Standard & Poor's assessment of the challenges that TCNZ would have to overcome to restore its financial risk measures to a level supportive of an
