Bangkok--Jan 6--Fitch Ratings (Thailand)
Fitch Ratings (Thailand) Limited has today changed the rating Outlook on the THB5.0 billion three-year guaranteed debentures to be issued by Mitsubishi Motors (Thailand) Company Limited (“MMTh”) to Positive from Stable following a similar revision in Outlook on Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ (“BTMU”, the entity created by the merger of Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi and UFJ Bank). At the same time, the National Long-term rating on the bonds was affirmed at ‘AA+(tha)’. The rating is based entirely on a full, irrevocable and unconditional guarantee by BTMU, which is rated International Long-term foreign currency ‘A-’ (A minus).
The rating Outlook on BTMU was revised to Positive from Stable on 1 January 2006, reflecting that the good asset quality and adequate capitalisation of the combined Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi and UFJ Bank if sustained could lead to a rating upgrade.
Contact: Lertchai Kochareonrattanakul, Wasant Polcharoen, Vincent Milton, Bangkok, Tel : +662 655 4755 ; Reiko Toritani, Tokyo, Tel: +81 3 3288 2673
Note to Editors: Fitch’s National ratings provide a relative measure of creditworthiness for rated entities in countries with sub- or low-investment grade international sovereign ratings. The best risk within a country is rated ‘AAA’ and other credits are rated only relative to this risk. National ratings are designed for use mainly by local investors in local markets and are signified by the addition of an identifier for the country concerned, such as ‘AAA(tha)’ for National ratings in Thailand. Specific letter grades are not therefore internationally comparable.
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