MALAYSIA'S TENAGA NASIONAL'S RATINGS UPGRADED

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 31 (Bernama) -- Standard & Poor Tenaga Nasional Bhd
(TNB)'s corporate credit ratings have been upgraded to 'BBB+' from 'BBB' with a
stable outlook.

TNB, Malaysia's main energy provider, said in a statement Thursday that the
international credit rating agency also upgraded TNB's Asean scale ratings to
'axA+' from 'axA'.

The issue ratings on the senior unsecured note issued by TNB Capital and
guaranteed by TNB were also raised to 'BBB+' from 'BBB'.

The upgrade reflected TNB's standalone credit profile following the recent
and more frequent tariff adjustments which point to an enhanced tariff setting
mechanism.

TNB also said Fitch Ratings had also raised TNB's long-term foreign and
local currency issuer default ratings (IDR) from 'BBB' to 'BBB+' and its
short-term foreign and local currency IDR from 'F2' to 'F3' with a stable
outlook.

The ratings are in tandem with TNB's ability to maintain a relatively strong
financial profile, despite the negative effects of the financial crisis on
Malaysia's energy demand and the impact of a lower ringgit.

The ratings also took into account the continuous improvement in TNB's
operational performance and customer outage metrics.
-- BERNAMA


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