Bangkok--3 Apr--Fitch Ratings Fitch Ratings (Thailand) Limited has today affirmed the National Long-term rating of ‘AAA(tha)’ for the three tranches of amortising and guaranteed debentures issued by Gulf Cogeneration Company Limited (GCC). This includes the three-year tranche of THB1.74 billion, five-year tranche of THB1.16bn and 10-year tranche of THB2.9bn, maturing April 2009, April 2011 and April 2016, respectively. The rating Outlook remains Stable. The ratings are based entirely on the irrevocable and unconditional guarantee of the principal and interest payments of the debentures by Ireland-based DEPFA BANK plc (DEPFA, Long-term foreign currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) ‘AA-’ (AA minus)/Stable). As DEPFA is rated higher than Thailand’s current Long-term local currency IDR of ‘A’, the debentures are rated ‘AAA(tha)’ on the Thai National rating scale. Fitch notes that changes in the International ratings of DEPFA and the Thai sovereign, which may result in the ratings of DEPFA to become lower than those of the Thai sovereign, will affect the debentures’ National rating. Investors should note that a one notch change in the International ratings of DEPFA and the Thai sovereign could result in a change of greater than one notch change in the debentures’ National rating. Bondholders should also note that the guaranteed amounts do not include additional interest, namely the difference between the debenture interest rate and the debenture default interest rate on the unpaid principal and interest, in case of events of default. However, this should be mitigated by a reserve account of THB5 million for this non-guaranteed amount. Bondholders should also note that they may receive payment in Japanese Yen from the guarantor, if there is an imposition of exchange controls by the Bank of Thailand that restricts conversion to Thai baht. The rating of the guarantor, DEPFA, is based on its minimal credit risk and the bank’s expertise in its chosen business of public sector finance, mainly in Europe, but gradually on a global basis as well. The ratings also reflect its good performance, reasonable capital ratio and its diminishing exposure to market risks. DEPFA, acquired by Germany’s Hypo Real Estate Holding AG (‘A’/Stable) in October 2007, is being restructured to reduce the proportion of potentially volatile earnings from market activities and to raise the proportion of stable long-term revenue. DEPFA processes large volumes of high-quality, low-yielding assets, resulting in relatively small operating profit and equity for the size of the balance sheet. DEPFA’s strong franchise among direct investors allows it to weather recent difficult funding conditions. Capital is tightly managed but acceptable given the bank’s small credit risk. GCC is a small power producer with electricity sales primarily to the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), Thailand’s national integrated electric utility company, under the Small Power Producer (SPP) programme. GCC started operations in September 1998 and has a current generating capacity of 112MW of electricity and 16 tonnes per hour of steam. GCC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gulf Electric Public Company Limited, an electric holding company with five operational power plants with a total capacity of 1,847MW. Contacts: Obboon Thirachit, Lertchai Kochareonrattanakul, Vincent Milton, Bangkok, +662 655 4755; Matthew Taylor, London, +44 20 7417 4345. 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. Fitch’s rating definitions and the terms of use of such ratings are available on the agency’s public site, www.fitchratings.com. Published ratings, criteria and methodologies are available from this site, at all times. Fitch’s code of conduct, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, affiliate firewall, compliance and other relevant policies and procedures are also available from the ‘Code of Conduct’ section of this site.