Bangkok--31 Jul--Fitch Ratings Fitch Ratings (Thailand) Limited has today assigned Cargill, Incorporated's (Cargill) proposed Thai baht senior unsecured debentures a National Long-term 'AAA(tha)' rating. The Outlook on the rating is Stable. Cargill plans to issue up to THB3.5bn senior unsecured debentures with a maturity of up to 10 years in Thailand. The funds raised are expected to be used for general corporate purposes. Cargill currently has a Long-term foreign currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of 'A' with a Stable Outlook, and a Short-term foreign currency IDR of 'F1'. The company is rated at the same level as Thailand's international Long-term local currency IDR of 'A' with a Stable Outlook. This, in turn, results in the National rating of the bonds being at the same level as Thailand's sovereign National rating of 'AAA(tha)'. Any international rating divergence between Cargill and Thailand may affect the issue's National rating. Cargill's ratings reflect its status as the largest agricultural company in the United States and one of the largest privately owned companies in the world. It has an operating footprint that spans every major country and almost every agricultural commodity. The company's key agricultural operations include oilseed processing, corn milling, meat processing, fertiliser and animal nutrition. Cargill's high geographic and product-line diversification lessen operating earnings and cash flow volatility associated with the agricultural sector. The ratings also factor in the company's liquidity, which is enhanced by its readily marketable inventory (RMI), substantial high cash balances and a majority equity stake in The Mosaic Company (Mosaic). This liquidity provides Cargill with considerable financial flexibility. However, balancing out Cargill's credit strengths are its negative free cash flow due to sizable increases in inventories and receivables, volatility in the global agribusiness markets, as well as significant earnings from higher risk financial businesses. Cargill's strong overall earnings growth has continued. Its net earnings increased 69% yoy to USD2.9bn for the first nine months ended 29 February 2008. Correspondingly, heightened agricultural commodity inventory costs have increased working capital usage and greatly reduced its cash flow from operations. In addition to evaluating traditional credit measures, Fitch's analysis of agricultural companies takes into consideration leverage ratios that exclude debt used to finance RMI and the non-recourse debt of Mosaic. RMI is highly liquid and generally hedged against price risk. With the adjustments described above, Cargill's leverage (total debt to operating EBITDA) was 2.2x for the latest 12 months ended 29 February 2008, and EBITDA to gross interest expense was 7.2x. On an unadjusted basis, total debt to operating EBITDA was 2.6x and EBITDA/interest was 6.1x. Cargill is 89%-owned by family members, with the remainder owned by management and the employee stock ownership plan. Cargill's core operations are within five segments - agricultural services, origination and processing, food ingredients and applications, risk management and financial, and industrial - which between them have more than 80 business units. Contacts: Lertchai Kochareonrattanakul, Vincent Milton, Bangkok, +662 655 4755; Wesley E. Moultrie II, CPA Chicago, +1 312 368 3186. 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. Media Relations: Brian Bertsch, New York, Tel: +1 212-908-0549; Shivani Sundralingam, Singapore, Tel: + 65 6796 7215.