Adverse economic conditions could cause network operators to postpone investments or initiate other cost-cutting initiatives to improve their financial position. This could result in significantly reduced expenditures for network infrastructure and services, in which case our operating results would suffer. We have established flexibility to cost-effectively accommodate fluctuations in demand. However, if demand were to fall in the future, we may experience material adverse effects on our revenues, cash flow, capital employed and value of our assets and we may even incur operating losses. If demand is significantly weaker or more volatile than expected, this may have a material adverse impact on our credit rating, borrowing opportunities and costs as well as on the trading price of our shares. When deemed necessary, we undertake specific restructuring or cost saving initiatives, however, there are no guarantees that such initiatives are sufficient, successful or executed in time to deliver necessary improvements in earnings.
Some of the risk factors we are exposed to may exacerbate in an adverse condition in the financial market. Most of our customers are financially stable and have networks with good utilization. However, some operators, in particular in markets with weak currencies, may incur borrowing difficulties and lower traffic than expected, which may affect their investment plans. The potential adverse effects of an economic downturn include: * Reduced demand for products and services, resulting in increased price competition or deferrals of purchases, with lower revenues not being possible to compensate with reduced costs. * Risks of excess and obsolete inventories and excess manufacturing capacity and risk of financial difficulties or failures among our suppliers. * Increased demand for customer finance, difficulties in collection of