Bangkok--22 Dec--Fitch Ratings
Fitch Ratings (Thailand) Limited has today affirmed the National ratings of the bonds issued by Siam Panich SPV 1 Company Limited, and assigned Loss Severity (LS) Ratings as follows:
THB200m, Tranche A bonds affirmed at ‘AAA(tha)’; Outlook Stable; Loss Severity Rating assigned at ‘LS-1’;
THB1.75bn, Tranche B bonds affirmed at ‘AAA(tha)’; Outlook Stable; Loss Severity Rating assigned at ‘LS-1’.
The transaction is a securitisation of auto hire purchase receivables originated by Siam Commercial Leasing Public Company Limited (SCBL, ‘A(tha)’/Stable/‘F1(tha)’).
The rating affirmations reflect the transaction’s satisfactory portfolio performance and its ability to maintain the level of credit enhancement commensurate with its ‘AAA(tha)’ ratings since closing. Despite weak economic conditions and prolonged political uncertainty in Thailand, the performance of the underlying portfolio has been resilient in 2009.
The portfolio’s total delinquency rate (defined as the percentage of non-current receivables to total receivables) has been stable throughout the year. In addition, the portfolio performance has shown an improvement from the prior year, partly due to the successful transition of SCBL’s servicing function. The cumulative default rate of the transaction has remained below Fitch’s base case assumption. The latest delinquency rate of 4.15% and default rate of 0.05% were less than half their respective early amortisation trigger levels of 9.5% and 0.8%, according to the transaction’s November 2009 servicer report.
The Stable Outlooks reflect Fitch’s expectation that the transaction’s performance will remain stable and that the existing cushion between the cumulative default rate and Fitch’s base case assumption should be sufficient in supporting the ratings amid fragile economic conditions. Given Thailand’s continual weak economic environment and political uncertainty, Fitch has applied a more conservative default definition of more than 90 days past due (dpd) receivables (versus the more than 180 dpd under the base case assumption) as a test of future default performance for the transaction. Under the more conservative default definition, the transaction's stressed cumulative default rate is still comfortably below Fitch’s base case assumption.
Applicable criteria available on Fitch's website at www.fitchratings.com: "Global Structured Finance Rating Criteria", dated 30 September 2009; “Criteria for Structured Finance Loss Severity Ratings”, dated 17 February 2009.
The transaction’s surveillance report will soon be available on the agency’s website, www.fitchratings.com.
Rating Outlooks have been published for all newly issued Asia Pacific Structured Finance tranches since June 2008, and concurrently with rating actions for tranches issued prior to June 2008. Unlike a Rating Watch which notifies investors that there is a reasonable probability of a rating change in the short term as a result of a specific event, rating outlooks indicate the likely direction of any rating change over a one- to two-year period.
Contacts: Pramook Malasitt, Orawan Karoonkornsakul, Vincent Milton, Bangkok, +662 655 4755.