Feller upgrades Saesa outlook

Chilean credit rating agency Feller Rate has maintained its AA- rating on power distributor Saesa's bonds and solvency, and upgraded the outlook to positive from stable, Feller Rate said in a statement Wednesday. Feller also withdrew its rating on Saesa's shares, at the company's request. The bonds and solvency rating reflects Saesa's favorable business position in the relatively low-risk distribution and transmission sectors in Chile, its financial structure, the risk associated with Saesa's investments in Argentina, and the influence of the regulatory and rates framework that the power sector is subject to, the statement said. The outlook upgrade is based on a strengthening of company equity, the refinancing of debt, a greater financial distance between Saesa and its parent (US utility PSEG) as well as its investment in Argentina (in Rio Negro province distributor Edersa), and the favorable tendency of Saesa's financial solvency indicators during 2003, the statement added. To read Feller Rate's full report on Saesa, see http://www.bnamericas.com/rc_search_detail.xsql?id_documento=38466&Tx_idioma=E