Moody's gives Aaa to Temasek's 15yr, 25yr notes

Disciplined management and committed goal of maximising long-term shareholder results translated to company’s Aaa rating.

Moody's Investors Service has assigned Aaa ratings to the 15-year SGD500 million and 25-year SGD500 million senior unsecured fixed-rate notes to be issued by Temasek Financial (I) Limited, a wholly-owned financing subsidiary of Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited. The rating outlook is stable.

These notes are irrevocably and unconditionally guaranteed by Temasek and are pursuant to its USD10 billion Medium-Term Note Program. The proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes.

"Further to the SGD1 billion 10-year notes issued in February and the USD1.9 billion raised in late 2009, this proposed MTN drawdown will further strengthen Temasek's liquidity and spread out its debt maturity," said Elizabeth Allen, a Moody's VP/Senior Credit Officer.

The Aaa ratings reflect Temasek's strong financial profile at the holding company level, and are underpinned by the company's low book and market value-based leverage, excellent liquidity position and high-quality investment portfolio.

"Temasek's management's demonstration and commitment to financial discipline is an important driver in its rating, while its objective of maximizing long-term shareholder returns allows it to have a very flexible investment strategy and investment horizon," added Allen, also Moody's lead analyst for the company.

The rating outlook is stable, reflecting the expectation that Temasek's credit metrics will remain strong and the likelihood that management will continue to prudently manage its investments.

Temasek has a stand-alone Aaa rating. In the event that the company's underlying credit fundamentals were no longer rated Aaa, Moody's Joint Default Analysis (JDA) methodology would become relevant to the analysis.

Nonetheless, based on Moody's expectation of a high likelihood of government support and dependency, the Aaa rating would come under pressure only if both the ratings of the company and of the Singapore government (Aaa/Stable) were lowered.

Moody's last rating action with regard to Temasek occurred on 8 February 2010 when a Aaa rating was assigned to the senior unsecured fixed-rate 10-year SGD notes issued by Temasek Financial (I) Limited. These notes are also guaranteed by Temasek.