Bangkok--21 Aug--TRIS Rating TRIS Rating Co., Ltd. has placed a CreditAlert with “negative” implication for the company rating of TPI Polene PLC (TPIPL) and has maintained the company rating at “BBB”. The CreditAlert comes after the Criminal Court appointed an executing officer pursuant to the Criminal Court judgment on 3 December 2007. The “negative” implication reflects a concern that the enforcement of the judgment by the Court will significantly impact the company’s liquidity and ongoing operations, even though the core business remains strong in cash flow generation. TRIS Rating reported that the litigation started on 22 March 2006, and on 3 December 2007, the Criminal Court ruled that TPIPL was guilty of violating the Securities and Exchange Act B.E. 2535 by disseminating information other than the information contained in the registration statement filed with the office of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The company was fined Bt6,900 million. Subsequently, on 15 February 2008, the company filed an appeal against the judgment of the Criminal Court with the Appeal Court. On 18 March 2008, TPIPL filed a motion with the Criminal Court requesting the Court to cease the legal execution of the judgment but the Criminal Court issued an order to dismiss the motion. Subsequently, on 10 April 2008, the company filed an appeal against the dismissal order of the Criminal Court with the Appeal Court. As the cases are under the Appeal Court’s considerations, the company is of the opinion that the payment of fine is not required pursuant to Section 245 of the Criminal Procedure Code. On 5 August 2008, the Criminal Court issued an order appointing an executing officer. On 6 August 2008, the company filed a motion objecting to the appointment of the executing officer with the Criminal Court, which issued an order accepting such motion. On a conservative basis, TPIPL has recorded a provision for the fine of Bt6,900 million in the financial statements as at 30 June 2008 whilst continuing to pursue its appeals and objections through the Courts. Though the provision is a non cash item, it caused the equities to decrease from Bt57,837 million (before provision) to Bt50,937 million (after provision) as of June 2008, which hampered the company’s financial leverage ratio. TRIS Rating will resolve the CreditAlert listing once the assessment of the impact from this event on TPIPL’s financial profile has been completed.