The 'A-' long-term corporate credit rating on ETSA Utilities Finance Pty Ltd., the financing arm of ETSA Utilities (collectively ETSA), reflects our view of the group's "excellent" business risk profile underpinned by its natural monopoly electricity-distribution business and the benefits of an established regulatory framework that provides a high level of cash flow certainty and stability. Partly offsetting these factors are: our opinion of the group's exposure to electricity demand risk, its significant ongoing capital expenditure and relatively high level of gearing. ETSA is owned 51% by Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings Ltd. (CKI; A-/Stable/--) and its affiliate Power Assets Holdings Ltd. (Power Assets; A+/Stable/--), with the remaining 49% held by Spark Infrastructure Group (Spark; not rated). We view ETSA's standalone
