PACRA MAINTAINS ENTITY RATINGS OF
KHADIM ALI SHAH BUKHARI & CO. LTD.

 

Lahore: April 26, 2002

The Pakistan Credit Rating Agency (PACRA) has maintained entity ratings of Khadim Ali Shah Bukhari & Company Limited (KASB) at "A" (single A) for long-term and "A1" (A one) for short-term. The assigned ratings denote a high credit quality with low expectation of credit risk and a strong capacity for timely payment of financial obligations. These ratings are applicable to the senior unsecured creditors of the company.

The assigned ratings reflect the continuing low credit risk stemming from the sound capital structure of the company. At the same time, the ratings also take into account the volatility risk in performance arising from stock market fluctuations. This volatility is likely to continue, though the exposure of KASB's proprietary trading in equity investments has declined subsequent to HYE2002. In a bid to bring stability to its income stream, the company is embarked on converting itself into the newly envisaged "Non-Banking Financial Company" (NBFC) with greater emphasis on fee-based income. Plans are also in hand to merge the subsidiary leasing company into KASB.