AA+ credit ratings for Council and CCHL

10 December 2007

Good stewardship has helped produce today’s Standard & Poor’s confirmation of AA+ credit ratings for the City Council and its holding company, Christchurch City Holdings (CCHL), says Council Chief Executive Tony Marryatt.

Standard and Poor’s today reaffirmed that the City Council and CCHL’s AA+ long-term and A-1+ short-term credit ratings remain the same; the only change being that the firm has revised its formerly “negative” outlook on the ratings to “stable”.

An entity’s credit rating is a criteria that lenders consider when companies or local bodies want to raise money in the wholesale money market.

Mr Marryatt said the steady ratings and its revision to “stable” was great news, and a good indication of the City managing its funds efficiently while carrying on capital works to provide better facilities and services for the city.

CCHL chief executive, Bob Lineham, says: “CCHL is a long-time holder of an AA band credit rating and we have always regarded AA as perfectly acceptable, but to be reaffirmed at AA+ is excellent.”

“That the Council and CCHL still hold an AA+ rating is very good. Only about 30 of 80 financial entities rated by Standard & Poor’s in New Zealand are in the AA band, let alone the AA+ band, and these include registered banks and insurance companies, so we’re in good company,” Mr Lineham says. 

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