Bangkok--13 Jul--Standard & Poor's Standard & Poor's Ratings Services today raised its long-term rating on Penrith City Council, a local government in New South Wales, to 'AA+' from 'AA'. The outlook is stable. "Penrith has a long history of strong and sophisticated management at both the administration level and councilor level," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Anna Hughes of the International Public Finance Ratings group. "The administration has introduced a number of activities that ensure councilors are well informed and able to make sound decisions regarding the strategic direction for the council. Consequently, Penrith is in a strong position to address any financial challenges such as the maintenance backlog." Penrith's maintenance backlog is comparatively small and the council has undertaken a number of initiatives to address the problem. The council's debt burden is manageable within the 'AA+' rating category and forecasts suggest that Penrith's net debt will remain fairly stable in the short to medium term. Penrith's accrual operating position is a weakness for the rating and the council will need to continue to improve its budgetary position. Downward pressure on the rating is unlikely in the short to medium term. "Given the strength of Penrith's management, there is some room for addition borrowings without threatening the rating," said Ms. Hughes. "However, if there is a change in Penrith's conservative approach to borrowings, or if their operating position worsens significantly, the rating would face downward pressure." Ratings are statements of opinion, not statements of fact or recommendations to buy, hold, or sell any securities. Standard & Poor's (Australia) Pty. Ltd. does not hold an Australian financial services license under the Corporations Act 2001. Any rating and the information contained in any research report published by Standard & Poor's is of a general nature. It has been prepared without taking into account any recipient's particular financial needs, circumstances, and objectives. Therefore, a recipient should assess the appropriateness of such information to it before making an investment decision based on this information. Complete ratings information is available to subscribers of RatingsDirect, the real-time Web-based source for Standard & Poor's credit ratings, research, and risk analysis, at www.ratingsdirect.com. All ratings affected by this rating action can be found on Standard & Poor's public Web site at www.standardandpoors.com; under Credit Ratings in the left navigation bar, select Find a Rating, then Credit Ratings Search. Media Contact: David Wargin, New York (1) 212-438-1579 [email protected] Analyst Contacts: Anna Hughes, Melbourne (61) 3- 9631-2010 Danielle Westwater, Melbourne (61) 3-9631-2036