CHH short term rating upgraded to A-2

Carter Holt Harvey’s short term rating upgraded to A-2, outlook revised to stable.

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P) has affirmed Carter Holt Harvey’s (CHH) ‘BBB’ long term corporate credit rating, upgraded its short term rating on CHH to ‘A-2’ from ‘A-3’, and revised the outlook to stable from negative.

S&P said this followed a review of CHH’s relationship with its 50.5% owner, International Paper Co (IP) in which they concluded that a downgrade of IP’s corporate credit rating would have no impact on CHH’s current credit ratings.

“The partial de-linking of CHH’s rating from that on IP has been undertaken on the basis that, in S&P’s view, CHH’s current finances will not be impacted by transactions with, or be strongly influenced by, IP in a way that disadvantages CHH’s creditors.”

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Carter Holt Harvey (www.chh.com) is a leading Australasian wood-fibre manufacturing and marketing company, supplying the New Zealand and Australian markets and exporting throughout Asia and around the Pacific Rim. Leading Carter Holt Harvey brands include Sorbent, Deeko, Treasures, Libra, Customwood, Pinex and Bestwood. Carter Holt Harvey is listed on both the NZSE and ASX, and employs approximately 11,000 people across New Zealand and Australia. The company's head office is in Auckland, New Zealand.

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