Bangkok--22 May--Standard & Poor's
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services revised the rating and underlying rating (SPUR) outlook to positive from stable on Alaska Housing Finance Corp.'s (AHFC) outstanding debt and assigned its 'AA' long-term rating to the AHFC's home mortgage revenue bonds, series 2009A and B.
The short-term rating on the issuer's series 2007A, B, and D bonds was lowered to 'A-2' from 'A-1', reflecting the downgrade in the short-term rating of Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg, which provides liquidity support for the bonds, to 'A-2' from 'A-1' on May 6, 2009. According to our criteria, the short-term rating of the bonds is based on the short-term rating of the liquidity provider. Also, we revised the outlook to negative and removed the long-term rating from CreditWatch with negative implications on the issuer's series 2002A bonds, reflecting the removal of Financial Security Assurance's (FSA) rating from CreditWatch with negative implications on April 21, 2009. FSA provides bond insurance for the series 2002A bonds.
"The positive outlook reflects our view of the high level of overcollateralization and strong performance of the assets within the indenture," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Karen Fitzgerald. "Furthermore, we believe AHFC's general credit strength is derived from its equity reserves, which we expect will be sufficient to allow the corporation to continue its role in providing affordable housing for state residents in strong and precarious real estate and financial markets."
The rating actions also reflect our view of the state of Alaska's 'AA+' general obligation bond rating, as well as the state's strong financial management and significant financial reserves to weather the current downturn in oil prices.
RELATED RESEARCH
-- USPF Criteria: "Self Liquidity," Oct. 16, 2006
-- USPF Criteria: "Single-Family Whole Loan Programs," June 14, 2007
-- USPF Criteria: "Housing Finance Agencies," June 14, 2007
-- USPF Criteria: "Assumptions: Update to Cash Flow Analysis for Public Finance Housing Bonds," March 3, 2009
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Media Contact:
Ana Sandoval, New York (1) 212-438-5095, [email protected]
Analyst Contacts:
Karen Fitzgerald, San Francisco (1) 415-371-5023
Lawrence Witte, San Francisco (1) 415-371-5037