The 'A-' long-term corporate credit rating on ETSA Utilities Finance Pty Ltd., the financing arm of ETSA Utilities (collectively ETSA), benefits from the Australian-based utility's majority ownership by the higher rated Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings Ltd. (CKI; A-/Stable/--) and Power Assets Holdings Ltd. (PAH; formerly known as Hong Kong Electric Holdings Ltd.; A+/Stable/--), and an undertaking by CKI and PAH to maintain minimum financial metrics and policies at ETSA. ETSA is the monopoly electricity distributor in the state of South Australia (AAA/Stable/A-1+), and we view its stand-alone credit profile to be 'bbb+'. This reflects our view of the company's high level of cash-flow certainty and stability, given that most of ETSA's income is derived from a regulated distribution business. In
