(The following was released by the rating agency)
SINGAPORE (Standard & Poor's) Oct. 5, 2012--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said today that it had raised its long-term corporate credit rating on Indonesia-based plantation company PT Bakrie Sumatera Plantations Tbk. (BSP) and its subsidiary Agri International Resources Pte. Ltd. (Agri International) to 'CCC' from 'CCC-'. The outlook on both the ratings is stable. We removed the ratings from CreditWatch, where they had been placed with developing implications on July 18, 2012. We then withdrew all the ratings at the companies' request.
We raised the ratings on the two companies to bring them in line with our recently updated criteria (see "Criteria For Assigning 'CCC+', 'CCC', 'CCC-', And 'CC' Ratings," published Oct. 1, 2012, on RatingsDirect on the Global Credit Portal).
At the time of the withdrawal, the ratings on BSP and Agri International reflected our expectation that both the companies would generate sufficient cash flows to be able to service their debt over the next 12 months. The rating outlooks on BSP and Agri International at the time of withdrawal reflected our view that the companies would be able to refinance their debt maturities over the same period. A recent fall in palm oil prices could constrain the companies' cash flows.
RELATED CRITERIA AND RESEARCH
-- Criteria For Assigning 'CCC+', 'CCC', 'CCC-', And 'CC' Ratings; Oct. 1 2012
-- 2008 Corporate Criteria: Analytical Methodology, April 15, 2008
Keywords: MARKETS RATINGS AGRIINTERNATIONAL