Bangkok--4 Jul--Standard & Poor's, Signs of a slowdown in the number of Japanese corporate, government, and financial sector upgrades began to appear in 2Q 2008, according to a report published today by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services. The report discusses how upgrades in the Japanese corporate, government, and financial sectors continued to outnumber downgrades in the second quarter of 2008, with six upgrades versus one downgrade between April 1, 2008, and June 30, 2008. This continues the trend in the corporate sector of upgrades outstripping downgrades, and demonstrates balance sheet improvements and progress in business restructuring at the companies involved. However, the number of upgrades declined significantly from the same period in the previous year, which saw 46 upgrades, consisting of 27 in the corporate sector, 18 in the financial sector, and one in the sovereign sector. It also marked a noteworthy drop from each of the previous three quarters, during which there were about 10 upgrades apiece. The report, titled "Japan Rating Trends 2Q 2008: Upgrades Continue, Though Signs Of Deceleration Starting To Show" is available on RatingsDirect, Standard & Poor's Web-based credit research and analysis system. The report can also be found on Standard & Poor's public Web site at www.standardandpoors.com; under Credit Ratings in the left navigation bar select News & Analysis. Members of the media may request a copy by e-mail at [email protected] or by phone at 81-3-4550-8411. Media Contact: David Wargin, New York (1) 212-438-1579, [email protected] Analyst Contacts: Mami Yoda, CFA, Tokyo (81) 3-4550-8730 Ryoji Yoshizawa, Tokyo (81) 3-4550-8453