Bangkok--3 Sep--Fitch Ratings Fitch Ratings (Thailand) Limited has today affirmed Tri Petch Isuzu Sales Company Limited’s (TIS) National Long-term rating on its THB2.0bn guaranteed debentures due in 2009 at ‘AAA(tha)’. The Outlook remains Stable. The rating is based entirely on the full, irrevocable and unconditional guarantee provided by TIS’ parents, Mitsubishi Corporation (MC, ‘A+’/Stable Outlook). As MC’s rating is currently above Thailand’s International Long-term local currency Issuer Default Rating of ‘A’, the guaranteed debentures are capped at the sovereign National rating of ‘AAA(tha)’. Fitch notes that any rating action that results in MC’s rating falling below the Thai sovereign will affect the debentures’ National rating. Investors should note that a one-notch change in an International rating could result in a more-than-one-notch change in a National rating. MC’s rating reflects its leading position as the largest Japanese general trading companies in terms of sales, net profit and total assets. The rating also incorporates the company’s sound equity base. MC has the highest profit and asset concentration in energy and metal among its peers rated by the agency, which could be a rating constraint as the prices of natural resources are volatile. Its energy and metal divisions accounted for 54.6% of the company’s net profit and 42.4% of total assets at end-March 2008. Fitch expects MC’s net debt equity ratio to remain at the current level (1.2x at end-March 2008). Its close relationship with Japanese financial institutions (FIs) is an integral part of general trading companies’ business models. Thus their ratings would be linked to those of the Japanese FIs, should these FIs’ ratings deteriorate to the extent that it would be difficult for them to provide credit to the general trading companies, which would result in a systematic downgrade of the latter. TIS is about 89% owned by the MC group, and is one of the largest distributors of commercial vehicles in Thailand and is involved in automobile-related businesses (i.e. car assembly, die and parts manufacturing, after-sales service, automobile export, transportation and car hire-purchase) via its subsidiaries and associates. TIS has maintained its leading position in commercial vehicle sales in the local market with a share of around 36%. Contacts: Lertchai Kochareonrattanakul, Ekapan Prompraphant, Vincent Milton, Bangkok, +662 655 4755; Naoki Takahashi, Tokyo, +81 3 3288 2628. 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.