11th February 2009. Standard and Poor’s, the reputed credit risk rating agency, has awarded COFIDES the rating A+/Stable/A-1. According to S&P, COFIDES’ strengths are defined by robust capitalization, strong balance sheet liquidity and majority ownership by the Spanish state.

S&P stresses the improvements made in COFIDES’ risk management, the prudent provisioning policy, the Company reorganization undertaken in all its most strategic areas, COFIDES’ general policy to obtain guarantees, the standardization of financial analysis procedures with the use of analytical tools, particularly project and operation ratings.

In the section on risk profile, S&P emphasizes the broadening of COFIDES’ corporate purpose to include projects of Spanish interest, the COFIDES’ high exposure to the volatility of developing economies and the SMEs’ more vulnerability to economic downturns.

In the context of economic slowdown, the stability of these ratings as envisaged by S&P is a clear indication that COFIDES is a solvent and financially sound institution. Similarly, S&P took a very positive view of the company’s healthy capitalization and expressed its confidence in the solidity of its future solvency.