Release: Moody's ups Indonesia's PLN to Ba3

( Hong Kong , October 18, 2007) -- Moody's Investors Service has upgraded to Ba3 from B1 the corporate family rating and senior unsecured bond rating of PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN). At the same time, PT Moody's has upgraded to Aa2.id from A1.id PLN's national scale rating. This rating action follows Moody's decision to upgrade to Ba3 from B1 the Indonesian government's long-term foreign-currency and local-currency ratings. The rating outlook is stable, consistent with the outlook on the government ratings.

 

"Given PLN's 100% ownership by the Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises (MSOE), its strategic importance as Indonesia's only vertically integrated electricity utility, as well as the ongoing government support through subsidies to ensure its financial viability and operational soundness, Moody's considers PLN's rating to be closely integrated with, and strongly linked to, the government's credit quality," says Moody's lead analyst for the company, Jennifer Wong, adding "Accordingly, an upgrade in the rating of the Indonesian government led to an upgrade in PLN's rating."

 

PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara is an Indonesian state-owned vertically integrated electricity utility with a generation capacity of over 22,000MW. It is a monopoly operator of transmission and distribution networks and is the country's largest electricity producer. The government - represented by the Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises (MSOE) - has complete ownership. (end of release)