Singapore, April 18, 2012 -- The following release represents Moody's Investors Service's summary credit
opinion on Indian Railway Finance Corp. and includes certain regulatory
disclosures regarding its ratings. This release does not constitute
any change in Moody's ratings or rating rationale for Indian Railway Finance
Corp.
Moody's current ratings on Indian Railway Finance Corp. are:
Long Term Issuer (foreign currency) rating of Baa3
Senior Unsecured (foreign currency) ratings of Baa3/(P)Baa3
RATING RATIONALE
Indian Railway Finance Corp's (IRFC) Baa3 foreign-currency
issuer rating takes into consideration its (1) baseline credit assessment
(BCA) of 12 (on a scale of 1-21, in which 1 represents the
lowest level of risk), and (2) our assessment of the high dependence
of IRFC on the Indian government, and 3) the support available to
IRFC from the Government of India.
IRFC's debt rating is in line with the Government of India's
Baa3 foreign currency government bond rating.
Its standalone financial strength (BCA of 12) is underscored by its relatively
sound financial position as well as a niche franchise that is well-established
as a result of its role of arranging lease finance for the Ministry of
Railways (MOR). However, the standalone strength is also
constrained by its single-sector exposure.
The company operates in an environment, where the policies and level
of support provided by the Government of India have positive implications
for its cost of capital, business growth, and overall profitability.
Moody's expectation of the very high dependence and high probability
of government support are based on IRFC's importance to the national
economy and its operating and financial proximity to the government.
In addition, the company is the established borrowing arm of the
MOR and is wholly-owned by the Government.
Rating Outlook
Its long-term debt rating has a stable outlook.
What Could Change the Rating - Up
IRFC's issuer rating could be upgraded if there is an upgrade of the sovereign's
foreign-currency debt rating.
What Could Change the Rating - Down
The rating could face negative pressure if: (1) there is a change
in the government's supportive attitude towards IRFC, and/or
(2) there is a downgrade in the sovereign foreign-currency debt
rating.
The methodologies used in this rating were Government-Related Issuers:
Methodology Update published in July 2010 and Revised Methodology for
Government Related Non-Bank Financial Institutions published in
August 2006. Please see the Credit Policy page on www.moodys.com
for a copy of these methodologies.
REGULATORY DISCLOSURES
Although this credit rating has been issued in a non-EU country
which has not been recognized as endorsable at this date, this credit
rating is deemed "EU qualified by extension" and may still
be used by financial institutions for regulatory purposes until 30 April
2012. Further information on the EU endorsement status and on the
Moody's office that has issued a particular Credit Rating is available
on www.moodys.com.
For ratings issued on a program, series or category/class of debt,
this announcement provides relevant regulatory disclosures in relation
to each rating of a subsequently issued bond or note of the same series
or category/class of debt or pursuant to a program for which the ratings
are derived exclusively from existing ratings in accordance with Moody's
rating practices. For ratings issued on a support provider,
this announcement provides relevant regulatory disclosures in relation
to the rating action on the support provider and in relation to each particular
rating action for securities that derive their credit ratings from the
support provider's credit rating. For provisional ratings,
this announcement provides relevant regulatory disclosures in relation
to the provisional rating assigned, and in relation to a definitive
rating that may be assigned subsequent to the final issuance of the debt,
in each case where the transaction structure and terms have not changed
prior to the assignment of the definitive rating in a manner that would
have affected the rating. For further information please see the
ratings tab on the issuer/entity page for the respective issuer on www.moodys.com.
Information sources used to prepare the rating are the following:
parties involved in the ratings, public information, and confidential
and proprietary Moody's Investors Service information.
Moody's considers the quality of information available on the rated
entity, obligation or credit satisfactory for the purposes of issuing
a rating.
Moody's adopts all necessary measures so that the information it
uses in assigning a rating is of sufficient quality and from sources Moody's
considers to be reliable including, when appropriate, independent
third-party sources. However, Moody's is not
an auditor and cannot in every instance independently verify or validate
information received in the rating process.
Please see the ratings disclosure page on www.moodys.com
for general disclosure on potential conflicts of interests.
Please see the ratings disclosure page on www.moodys.com
for information on (A) MCO's major shareholders (above 5%)
and for (B) further information regarding certain affiliations that may
exist between directors of MCO and rated entities as well as (C) the names
of entities that hold ratings from MIS that have also publicly reported
to the SEC an ownership interest in MCO of more than 5%.
A member of the board of directors of this rated entity may also be a
member of the board of directors of a shareholder of Moody's Corporation;
however, Moody's has not independently verified this matter.
Please see Moody's Rating Symbols and Definitions on the Rating
Process page on www.moodys.com for further information on
the meaning of each rating category and the definition of default and
recovery.
Please see ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com
for the last rating action and the rating history. The date on
which some ratings were first released goes back to a time before Moody's
ratings were fully digitized and accurate data may not be available.
Consequently, Moody's provides a date that it believes is
the most reliable and accurate based on the information that is available
to it. Please see the ratings disclosure page on our website www.moodys.com
for further information.
Please see www.moodys.com for any updates on changes to
the lead rating analyst and to the Moody's legal entity that has
issued the rating.
Vineet Gupta
Vice President - Senior Analyst
Financial Institutions Group
Moody's Investors Service Singapore Pte. Ltd.
50 Raffles Place #23-06
Singapore Land Tower
Singapore 48623
Singapore
JOURNALISTS: (852) 3758 -1350
SUBSCRIBERS: (65) 6398-8308
Stephen Long
MD - Financial Institutions
Financial Institutions Group
JOURNALISTS: (852) 3758 -1350
SUBSCRIBERS: (852) 3551-3077
Releasing Office:
Moody's Investors Service Singapore Pte. Ltd.
50 Raffles Place #23-06
Singapore Land Tower
Singapore 48623
Singapore
JOURNALISTS: (852) 3758 -1350
SUBSCRIBERS: (65) 6398-8308
Moody's Disclosures on Credit Rating of Indian Railway Finance Corp.