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.-- End
Guaranteed Debenture Ratings: AAA Rating Outlook: Stable
Copyright 2009, TRIS Rating Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized use, disclosure, copying, republication, further transmission, dissemination, redistribution or storing for subsequent use for any purpose, in whole or in part, in any form or manner or by any means whatsoever, by any person, of the credit rating reports or information is prohibited. The credit rating is not a statement of fact or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any debt instruments. It is an expression of opinion regarding credit risks for that instrument or particular company. The opinion expressed in the credit rating does not represent investment or other advice and should therefore not be construed as such. Any rating and information contained in any report written or published by TRIS Rating has been prepared without taking into account any recipient’s particular financial needs, circumstances, knowledge and objectives. Therefore, a recipient should assess the appropriateness of such information before making an investment decision based on this information. Information used for the rating has been obtained by TRIS Rating from the company and other sources believed to be reliable. Therefore, TRIS Rating does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy, or completeness of any such information and will accept no liability for any loss or damage arising from any inaccuracy, inadequacy or incompleteness. Also, TRIS Rating is not responsible for any errors or omissions, the result obtained from, or any actions taken in reliance upon such information.