BRC maintains Triple A's AAA

Ratings agency BRC Investor Services has maintained a AAA rating for the 2003 ordinary bonds issued by Colombia's Barranquilla-based aqueduct, sewerage and sanitation company Triple A, according to a BRC report. The AAA rating, the highest investment grade, is sustained due to the company's financial and operational performance during the past year, its consistent ability to increase operating margins, and the reduction of short-term debt, according to the report. Triple A issued a 10-year, 180bn peso (currently US$63.4mn) denominated bond in Colombia's capital market in May 2003. Grupo Triple A owns Triple A, which won a 20-year waterworks concession in 1993 for Barranquilla, a city of 1.5 million. The concession timeframe has since been extended to 2033. For more information visit http://www.bnamericas.com/cgi-bin/getresearch?report=111865_COMUNICADODEPRENSABONOSAAA2003.doc