Partner Communications Company Ltd. ("Partner")
(Nasdaq:PTNR)(LSE:PCCD)(TASE:PTNR), a leading Israeli mobile
communications operator, announces that Maalot, The Israel Securities
Rating Company Ltd., strategic partner of Standard & Poor's, announced
the upgrade of Partner's series A bonds rating outlook to
"AA-/Positive".
In its report, Maalot stated that: "Partner's positive rating
outlook is based on the high and stable business positioning of the
Company and on the Maalot assessment that the Company will continue to
present high cash flows in the future as well. Maintaining financial
ratios after number portability implementation, which are not
significantly different from those presented in the financial reports
today, might positively impact the bond rating. The rating outlook
might be adversely affected to the extent that the impact of number
portability is higher than expected by Maalot or as a result of other
legal or regulatory changes."
About Partner Communications
Partner Communications Company Ltd. ("Partner") is a leading
Israeli mobile communications operator providing GSM / GPRS / UMTS /
HSDPA services and wire free applications under the orange(TM) brand.
The Company provides quality service and a range of features to 2.733
million subscribers in Israel (as of June 30, 2007). Partner's ADSs
are quoted on the NASDAQ Global Select Market(TM) (NASDAQ: PTNR) and
the London Stock Exchange (LSE: PCCD). Its shares are also traded on
the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE: PTNR).
Partner is a subsidiary of Hutchison Telecommunications
International Limited ("Hutchison Telecom"), a leading global provider
of telecommunications services. Hutchison Telecom currently offers
mobile and fixed line telecommunications services in Hong Kong, and
operates mobile telecommunications services in Israel, Macau,
Thailand, Sri Lanka, Ghana, Vietnam and Indonesia. It was the first
provider of 3G mobile services in Hong Kong and Israel and operates
brands including "Hutch", "3" and "orange". Hutchison Telecom, a
subsidiary of Hutchison Whampoa Limited, is a listed company with
American Depositary Shares quoted on the New York Stock Exchange under
the ticker "HTX" and shares listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong
under the stock code "2332". For more information about Hutchison
Telecom, see www.htil.com.
For more information about Partner, see
http://www.orange.co.il/investor_site/