Bangkok--29 Aug--Fitch Ratings Fitch Ratings (Thailand) has today revised the Outlook on Finansa Public Company Limited’s (FNS) National Long-term rating to Stable from Negative, affirmed it at ‘BBB(tha)’, as well as the National Short-term rating at ‘F3(tha)’. Fitch’s Outlook revision and rating affirmation follows the release of FNS’ H108 results and the disposal of its subsidiary’s investment in synthetic collateralised debt obligations (CDOs) of about THB880m in May 2008. The agency notes that FNS booked losses on the disposal of THB70.7m or about 8% of its costs, which is about the same as marked-to-market losses reported at end-2007. The current ratings reflect FNS’s financial holding company structure, revenue diversification, and adequate capital and liquidity positions. However, the ratings also take into account the lack of a strong financial institutional shareholder, its exposure to market and credit risk, and dependence on volatile brokerage earnings, investments and proprietary trading. In H108, FNS reported a net loss of THB149.3m due mainly to losses on disposal of its investments in CDOs and weak investment banking activity, although income from securities business rose from the previous year due primarily to an increase in trading volume. At end-June 2008, FNS’s impaired loans totalled THB682.7m or 18.7% of total loans, stemming mainly from its finance unit’s commercial loans, up from THB620.1m (16.3% of total loans) at end-2007. Loan loss reserve stood at about 65% of impaired loans. FNS is currently reviewing its business strategy at Finansa Credit, its finance unit with assets of about THB1.0bn, in light of the deteriorating economic environment, which is expected to be completed by year-end. At end-June 2008, FNS’s equity/assets ratio remained stable at 30.7%, which provides a significant cushion against the volatile operating environment. Note to Editors: Fitch’s National ratings provide a relative measure of creditworthiness for rated entities in countries with relatively low international sovereign ratings and where there is demand for such 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. Contacts: Darunee Peanmanakit, Vincent Milton, Bangkok, +662 655 4752/4759. 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.