MMP – SGX
Corporate family rating of Baa1 remains unchanged
SINGAPORE, 16 January 2008 – Macquarie Pacific Star, Manager of MMP REIT – the S-REIT with the largest presence in Orchard Road – is pleased to announce that Moody’s Investors Service (Moody’s) has assigned a ‘Baa2’ rating to the S$2 billion multi-currency Medium Term Note (MTN) programme set up for MMP REIT on 8 January 2008. Moody’s corporate family rating of ‘Baa1’ with a stable outlook for MMP REIT remains unchanged. The corporate family rating was first assigned to MMP REIT in July 2006 and reaffirmed in May 2007.
Moody’s reiterated MMP REIT’s ‘Baa1’ corporate family rating reflects the high quality of its assets, strong rental reversions, almost full occupancy with staggered tenancies into 2010, and manageable tenant concentrations which provide stable recurring revenue streams.
Mr Franklin Heng, Chief Executive Officer of Macquarie Pacific Star, said: “Moody’s Baa2 rating for the MTN programme underscores our prudent debt management strategy, while its reaffirmation of the Baa1 corporate family rating for MMP REIT reiterates the quality of our assets. MMP REIT enjoys low gearing and a strong balance sheet. At 30 September 2007, gearing was 34.2 per cent, of which 88 per cent is fixed rate debt. The MTN programme will allow us to tap into other sources of funding, providing us with greater flexibility to manage our capital requirements, fund acquisitions and drive organic growth in our portfolio of assets.”