MELBOURNE -- Standard&Poor's CreditWire 10/30/98 -- Standard&Poor's today affirmed its triple-'B' corporate credit rating of Australian Prime Property Fund Retail (APPFR). The rating outlook has been revised to stable from positive. The rating reflects APPFR's conservative financial profile, and the location of its retail shopping centers in population growth corridors. These strengths are mitigated by limited asset diversity deriving from APPFR's exposure to a total of six assets, of which some have generated less-than-expected returns. APPFR has been structured to provide institutional investors with a mix of regional and subregional retail shopping centers. Overall, the newly renovated assets are of a high quality, with about 80% of the asset base invested in regional centers, which are
