HONG KONG (Standard & Poor's CreditWire) Sept. 15, 2000--The fall in the fiscal 2000 net profit of Singapore Power is neither overly surprising nor an immediate threat to the company's tripleùA rating. The 29% drop in net profit after tax to Singapore dollar (S$)643 million in the year to March 2000 from S$904 million in the year to March 1999, for the most part, reflects the impact of government initiated tariff rebates to customers, which are scheduled to finish at the end of this year, and the impact of competition in Singapore's electricity generation market. Notwithstanding the sharp decline in profitability, debt protection measures remain extremely strong with net interest covered more than 20 times (x) by earnings before interest,
