“NPBS’s stable outlook reflects the strength of the society’s financial
profile, which has remained resilient throughout the crisis”, said Daniel
Yu, an Analyst with Moody’s Sydney office. “It also reflects the
society’s strong franchise and steady growth within the Newcastle and
Hunter regions”, adds Yu.

NPBS’s financial strength is underpinned by its very high levels of
capitalization which provide a significant buffer to absorb losses in a
downturn. Capital levels have continued to grow strongly over the past
three years, despite reduced profitability in 2008 and 2009. As it is not
listed, NPBS does not pay dividends, allowing all profits to be retained
as capital. At December 2010 the society’s Tier 1 ratio stood at 18.79%,
which is the highest it has been in seven years.

Asset quality has held up well during the crisis and continues to be a
key strength for the society. NPBS adopts prudent lending practices and
maintains a conservative loan portfolio, which is focused on prime
residential mortgages. In 2010, non-performing loans (defined as impaired
loans plus 90 day past due loans) as a proportion of total loans were at
their lowest levels in five years at 0.18%.

The society’s conservative strategy extends to its funding approach which
is focused on retail deposits, which account for 77% of total funding.
NPBS maintains a sizable portfolio of transaction accounts, which make up
almost half of total retail deposits and are likely to be relatively
“sticky”, when compared to term deposits, which tend to be more price
sensitive. The remaining 23% of NPBS’s funding is comprised of
securitization, issued debt and corporate deposits. The society has taken
steps to improve its liquidity management by establishing an Exchange
Settlement Account, which will allow NPBS to easily repo its liquid
assets with the Reserve Bank of Australia (“RBA”) in case of need.
Furthermore, this will allow NPBS’s issued Certificate of Deposits to be
repo eligible with the RBA, which enhances their attractiveness to
investors.

Profitability recovered strongly in 2010, after a drop in 2008 and 2009,
which were impacted by a number of one-off items. Pre-provision profits
as a percentage of risk weighted assets reached their highest point in
five years at 2.45% in 2010.

We note that society’s franchise is concentrated within regional NSW with
almost 65% of loans sourced from the Hunter region. Whilst the Hunter
region is a diverse economy, NPBS’s concentration does mean that its
rating is particularly sensitive to the performance of this part of the
state. Furthermore, we would expect any future upward potential on the
rating to be limited, whilst the society maintains this geographic
concentration.

The current competitive environment does present a number of challenges
for the entire sector. Notably, profit has been pressured by higher
funding costs and competition for deposit funding. As a mutual, NPBS is
not under pressure to produce returns for shareholders which allows the
society to retain its low risk strategy and consolidate its position
during times of stress. As a result, we would expect NPBS to maintain its
credit profile in line with the assigned rating even in the current
challenging environment.

Nevertheless, a combination of the following is likely to trigger a
review of the rating:

(i) Tier 1 capital ratio falling below 12%

(ii) The total of impaired loans plus 90 day past due loans rising above
0.8% of gross loans

(iii) Wholesale funding minus liquid assets to total assets ratio being
greater than 10% or wholesale funding excluding securitization minus
liquid assets to total assets being greater than 0%

Please see the ratings disclosure page on our website www.moodys.com for
further information

The principal methodologies used in rating NPBS were “Bank Financial
Strength Ratings: Global Methodology” published in February 2007 and
“Incorporation of Joint-Default Analysis into Moody’s Bank Rating
Methodology” published in March 2007.

NPBS is headquartered in Newcastle, NSW, Australia. It reported assets of
AUD6.8billion (approximately USD5.8billion) as at 30 June 2010.

Sydney
Daniel Yu
Analyst
Financial Institutions Group
Moody’s Investors Service Pty. Ltd.
JOURNALISTS: (612) 9270-8102
SUBSCRIBERS: (612) 9270-8100

Sydney
Patrick Winsbury
Senior Vice President
Financial Institutions Group
Moody’s Investors Service Pty. Ltd.
JOURNALISTS: (612) 9270-8102
SUBSCRIBERS: (612) 9270-8100

Moody’s Investors Service Pty. Ltd.
Level 10
1 O’Connell Street
Sydney NSW 2000
Australia
JOURNALISTS: (612) 9270-8102
SUBSCRIBERS: (612) 9270-8100

long-term issuer and senior unsecured debt ratings (with positive

outlook) on Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd., for business reasons.

This action does not reflect a change in the company’s creditworthiness.

For further details, please refer to Moody’s Withdrawal Policy at

www.moodys.co.jp.

The last rating action on Sanyo took place on October 26, 2010, when

Moody’s upgraded its long-term issuer and senior unsecured debt ratings

to A2 from Baa1 with positive outlook.

The principal methodology used in this rating was Moody’s “Asian Consumer

Electronics,” published on January 6, 2011, and available on

www.moodys.co.jp.

Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd., headquartered in Osaka, is one of the world’s

leading manufacturers of consumer electronics products and devices.

Moody’s reviews CLP’s ratings for possible downgradeApproximately US$2,100 million of debt securities affected

Hong Kong, December 15, 2010 — Moody’s Investors Service has placed on review for possible downgrade the A2 issuer rating of CLP Holdings Ltd (CLPH), the A1 issuer rating of CLP Power Hong Kong Ltd (CLP Power) and the A1 senior unsecured debt rating of CLP Power Hong Kong Financing Ltd. The P-1 short-term ratings have also been placed on review for possible downgrade.
This rating action follows the announcement that TRUenergy (unrated), the wholly-owned subsidiary of CLPH, will acquire the EnergyAustralia retail business, the Delta Western GenTrader bundle and two Power Station Development sites (Marulan sites & Mt Piper extension) as part of the electricity privatization process that is being undertaken by Australia’s New South Wales government.
Total consideration for the acquisition of A$2.035 billion will be initially funded by a combination of approximately A$1.2 billion of 18-month bridge facility, and A$0.835 billion through an equity contribution from CLPH.
“The review for downgrade reflects the majority debt-funded nature of the transaction, which follows the previously announced co-investment in the 6,000 megawatt Yangjiang Nuclear Power Station”, says Jennifer Wong, a Moody’s AVP/Analyst, adding “These transactions will weaken CLPH’s consolidated financial profile to a level that may not be consistent with current ratings.”
“The significant size of the transaction relative to CLPH’s balance sheet, and the potential integration challenges, are additional considerationsfor the downward rating review”, says Wong.
“Strategically, the acquisition of the EnergyAustralia retail business will enhance TRUenergy’s overall scale and market position, as well as providing immediate diversity benefit through economies of scale” Wong says, adding “acquiring Delta Western GenTrader bundle will also increase TRUenergy’s long term electricity supply sources given its increased electricity demand”.
In this review, Moody’s will evaluate the final funding arrangement for the acquisition and the prior investment and their impact on CLPH’soverall business and financial risk profiles. The review of CLP Power will be dependent on the outcome of the rating review of CLPH, as the rating are closely linked.
The last rating actions with respect to these entities were taken on 28July 2008, when Moody’s affirmed the A2 issuer rating of CLPH, the A1 issuer rating of CLP Power and the A1 senior unsecured debt rating of CLP Power Hong Kong Financing Ltd with a stable outlook.
The principal methodology used in this rating was Moody’s Regulated Electric and Gas Utilities published in August 2009.
CLP Holdings Limited, headquartered and listed in Hong Kong, operates its electric utility business under its 100%-owned subsidiary, CLP Power Hong Kong Ltd. The group also has a growing portfolio of electricity generation investments across Asia Pacific.
CLP Power Hong Kong Ltd is a vertically integrated electricity generation, transmission and distribution company. It is regulated by the Hong Kong SAR Government under the Scheme of Control and accounts for the majorityof CLPH’s operating cash flow. It has a de facto monopoly over Kowloon and the New Territories areas which altogether account for over 70% of Hong Kong’s electricity demand.
TRUenergy is a wholly-owned subsidiary of CLPH and is one of Australia’slargest integrated energy businesses. TRUenergy generates electricityand retails electricity and gas to over 1.26 million residential and business users in Australia.

Moody’s Investors Service has changed the local currency issuer rating for PTT Plc from A2 stable to A3 negative while the foreign currency issuer rating is kept at A3 with negative outlook in accord with the negative creditbility earlier given to Thailand.

Earlier in May, Moody’s announced the creditworthiness evaluation for Thailand to be at Baa1 with a negative outlook due to the recent political unrest in Bangkok. However, other types of credibility have been kept at the same level as the political pandemonium has not posed any threat to the overall credit.

Besides the preservation of Thailand’s credibility at Baa1, other types of credibility are also kept at the same level as the political conflict in Thailand has not posed any threat to fundamental factors of creditworthiness.

However, Moody’s stated that the shrinking investor confidence would have significant impact on Thailand’s long-term credibility.

Mr Thomas Byrne, senior vice president of Moody’s, said although the political standoff between the Thai government and the anti-government demonstrators in Bangkok on 19 May had resulted in casualties, the indication of susceptibility to short-term confidence had been standing at a good level since the beginning of the rally over 2 months ago.

Moody’s reported that the fragile political situation in Thailand might cut down the flexibility and abilities of the banks in handling a recession. Thai banks however still benefit from the government’s economic stimulus packages which have injected a significant amount of money into the system.

The Thai economy is expected to expand by 3-5% this year, recovering from -3% in 2009 while the banks’ credit growth rate could reach 10% this year after experiencing an ebb of -2% last year.

The world’s financial crisis has limited impacts on Thai commercial banks as they are not largely dependent on funds mobilization. A report suggests the asset quality of Thai banks has been stabilized since the end of 2008 with continuously declining bed debts, targeting at 5% this year.