Bangkok--2 Dec--Fitch Ratings
Fitch Ratings has today revised the Outlook on Thailand-based PTT Public Company Limited’s (PTT) Long-term foreign currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) and Long-term local currency IDR to Negative from Stable. At the same time, the agency has affirmed PTT’s Long-term foreign currency IDR at ‘BBB+’, Long-term local currency IDR at ‘A’ and Short-term foreign currency IDR at ‘F2’. Fitch Ratings (Thailand) Limited has also affirmed PTT’s National Long-term rating at ‘AAA(tha)’ and National Short-term rating at ‘F1+(tha)’. The Outlook on PTT’s National ratings remains Stable.
The Outlook revision was triggered by the agency’s Outlook revision earlier today on the Kingdom of Thailand’s Sovereign Long-term foreign currency IDR and Long-term local currency IDR to Negative from Stable. The agency has affirmed the kingdom’s Long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) at 'BBB+' and 'A', respectively. For further details, please see the commentary entitled “Fitch Revises Thailand’s Outlook to Negative”, available on the agency’s subscriber website, www.fitchresearch.com.
PTT’s Long-term foreign currency IDR of ‘BBB+’ is restricted by Thailand’s Long-term foreign currency IDR, given the state’s majority ownership in PTT and due to the fact that its main operations are concentrated in Thailand, while its Long-term local currency IDR, rated ‘A’, is based on the state’s implicit support for PTT. As such, the revision in the Sovereign Outlook directly affects the Outlook on PTT’s ratings. As the National ratings are a relative measure of creditworthiness between the sovereign and other issuers within Thailand, the National rating Outlook is not affected.
Contacts: Lertchai Kochareonrattanakul, Bangkok, Tel: +662 655 4760; Steve Durose, Sydney, +612 8256 0307; Vincent Milton, Bangkok, +662 655 4759.
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.
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.