Bangkok--Feb 2--Fitch Ratings
Fitch Ratings (Thailand) Limited has today affirmed the Long-term National rating of Tri Petch Isuzu Sales Company Limited’s (“TIS”) THB3.5 billion amortizing guaranteed debentures No. 1/2547 due 2008 at ‘AAA(tha)’. At the same time, Fitch Ratings (Thailand) Limited also affirmed the Long-term National rating of Siam MCT Telecom Limited’s (“SMCT”) series of guaranteed bills of exchange due 2005 at ‘AAA(tha)’. The Outlook on both ratings is Stable.
These rating actions follow Fitch Ratings’ affirmation of Mitsubishi Corporation’s (“MC”) Senior Unsecured rating at ‘A’ with a Stable Outlook, after the announcement of its proposed subscription of new equity and preferred shares in Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (“MMC”).
TIS’s National rating is based on the full, irrevocable and unconditional guarantee provided by MC and the irrevocable and unconditional principal guarantee provided by Japan Bank for International Cooperation (“JBIC”). JBIC is a policy bank wholly-owned by the Japanese government (“Japan”, rated LTFC ‘AA’ Outlook Negative). The National rating of SMCT is also based on the full, irrevocable and unconditional guarantee provided by MC.
Although this raises concerns over MC’s investment and risk management policies, the current ‘A’ rating and Stable Outlook remain appropriate for the credit profile of MC due to the company’s strong financial performance during the fiscal year ended March 2004 and H1 FYE05.
MC advises that following this latest investment its risk-weighted exposure to MMC will be JPY240 billion, including the proposed JPY100bn financial support. The company’s share of MMC ownership following the latest financial support package will be around 14%, after assuming the common share conversion of the preferred shares. The proposed equity subscription of JPY70bn, however, should have no material impact on MC’s financial profile, given its liquid assets of JPY730.9bn at end-September 2004.
Moreover, the company expects pre-tax profits of JPY200bn in FYE05, up by 61% from a year ealier, and such robust earnings could absorb potential losses on the investment and its overall exposure to MMC.
Note to Editors: Fitch’s National ratings provide a relative measure of creditworthiness for rated entities in countries where the sovereign’s foreign and local currency ratings are below ‘AAA’. National ratings are not internationally comparable since the best relative risk within a country is rated ‘AAA’ and other credits are rated only relative to this risk. They are signified by the addition of an identifier for the country concerned, such as ‘AAA (tha)’ for National ratings in Thailand.
CONTACT: Lertchai Kochareonrattanakul, Orawan Karoonkornsakul, Vincent Milton, Bangkok, Tel: + 662 655 4755; Satoru Aoyama, Tokyo, Tel: +81 3 3288 2691.
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