TRIS Rating affirms the ratings on the outstanding guaranteed debentures of Frasers Property Holdings (Thailand) Co., Ltd. (FPHT or Issuer) at ?AA-?. At the same time, we assign a ?negative? outlook to the ratings. The debentures are issued under FPHT?s THB25 billion debenture program and fully guaranteed by Frasers Property Ltd. (FPL or Guarantor). FPHT is a wholly-owned subsidiary of FPL. The issue ratings reflect the creditworthiness of the guarantor (rated ?AA-? with a ?negative? outlook by TRIS Rating).
The ?negative? outlook reflects our view that FPL?s leverage is likely to stay elevated, exceeding the threshold of adjusted debt to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) ratio of below 12 times for the assigned ratings, at least over the next 12-18 months. We expect the company?s earnings to continue to be pressured by the lingering adverse impacts of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and weak macroeconomic backdrop, particularl