TELECOMS OPERATORS IMPROVE RATING IF THEY PURSUE CONSERVATIVE STRATEGIES.

• Position: Standard and Poor's study

Europe's leading telecommunications operators can improve their rating if they pursue conservative financial policies and strategies, according to a study published on April 28 by the ratings agency Standard and Poor's (SP). The agency points to "encouraging signs" for 2003 regarding improvements in the quality of credit, and therefore ratings of the principal European players: France T?l?com, KPN, Deutsche Telekom and British Telecom. 2002-2003 have been characterised by a change of strategy, management having opted for "more conservative" financial policies and strategies than over the period 1999-2001. Operators have focused on a policy of debt redemption and improving profitability designed to increase the generating of available cash flow. SP recalls, that this change comes after the 1999-2001 period marked by strategies that "weakened the quality of credit", a reference to colossal investments in third generation (3G) mobile telephony, and a drop in revenue from fixed telephony owing to the liberalisation...