Bangkok--24 Mar--TRIS Rating
TRIS Rating Co., Ltd. announces today that the “AAA” ratings with “stable” outlook it assigned to five series of guaranteed debentures of Honda Leasing (Thailand) Co., Ltd. (HLTC or Issuer) have not been impacted by the rating downgrade of Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (HMC) by Moody’s Investor Services (Moody’s).
TRIS Rating said that the debentures issued by HLTC are guaranteed by HLTC’s parent company, Honda Automobile (Thailand) Co., Ltd. (HATC or Guarantor), which is a subsidiary of HMC. On 18 March 2009, Moody’s downgraded the rating of HMC to “A1” from “Aa3”, with “stable” outlook. While HMC’s rating assigned by Standard and Poor’s (S&P) remains at “A+’ with “stable” outlook.
TRIS Rating said that the downgrade of HMC’s rating has no immediate impact on the ratings of HLTC’s guaranteed debentures due to the relatively strong credit quality of the guarantor and HMC, compared with the “AAA” rating in TRIS Rating’s portfolio. The ratings of these debentures reflect the unconditional and irrevocable guarantee by HATC, whose creditworthiness is enhanced by the keep well agreement provided by the parent company, HMC.
Honda Leasing (Thailand) Co., Ltd. (HLTC)
Guaranteed Debenture Ratings: AAA
Rating Outlook: Stable