3
“Safe Harbor”
Statement Under The Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995
This
presentation includes certain forward-looking statements about the Company’s
businesses, new products,
sales, expenses, tax rates, cash flows, prepublication investments and
operating and capital requirements.
Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: the strength
and sustainability of the
U.S. and global economy; Educational Publishing’s level of success in 2008
adoptions and in open territories
and enrollment and demographic trends; the level of educational funding; the strength of School Education including the testing
market, Higher Education, Professional and International publishing markets and the impact of technology on them;
the level of interest rates and the strength of the economy, profit levels and the capital markets in the
U.S. and abroad; the level of success of new product development and global expansion and strength of
domestic and international markets; the demand and market for debt ratings, including collateralized debt
obligations (“CDO”), residential mortgage and asset-backed securities and related asset classes; the
regulatory environment affecting Standard & Poor’s; the level of merger and acquisition activity in the U.S. and
abroad; the strength of the domestic and international advertising markets; the volatility of the
energy marketplace; the contract value of public works, manufacturing and single-family unit
construction; the level of political advertising; and the level of future cash flow, debt levels, manufacturing expenses,
distribution expenses, prepublication, amortization and depreciation expense, income tax rates, capital,
technology, restructuring charges and other expenditures and prepublication cost investment.
Actual
results may differ materially from those in any forward-looking statements
because any such statements
involve risks and uncertainties and are subject to change based upon various
important factors, including,
but not limited to, worldwide economic, financial, political and regulatory
conditions; currency and foreign
exchange volatility; the health of debt and equity markets, including interest
rates, credit quality and spreads,
the level of liquidity, future debt issuances including residential mortgage
backed securities and CDOs
backed by residential mortgages and related asset classes; the implementation
of an expanded regulatory
scheme affecting Standard & Poor’s ratings and services; the level of
funding in the education market
(both domestically and internationally); the pace of recovery in advertising;
continued investment by the
construction, computer and aviation industries; the successful marketing of
new products, and the effect of
competitive products and pricing