PBS Technologies (Trinidad) Limited US $40 Million Bond Issue – Withdrawal of Issue Credit Ratings

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Caribbean Information & Credit Rating Services Limited (CariCRIS), the region’s credit rating agency, wishes to inform the public of the withdrawal of the credit rating and outlook assigned to PBS Technologies (Trinidad) Limited’s (PBSTTL) US $40 million, 7% Fixed Rate Secured Note due in January 2026. This rating was last reported on by CariCRIS in June 2024.

The rating is withdrawn following CariCRIS’ receipt of notice in June 2024, indicating full repayment of the instrument. As a result, the rating will no longer be kept under annual surveillance and as such there will be no further updates on this bond issue rating. PBSTTL, will however maintain a corporate credit rating.

July 3, 2025

RATING ACTION:

On June 13, 2025, CariCRIS upgraded the Issuer/Corporate Credit ratings assigned to PBS Technologies (Trinidad) Limited (PBSTTL or the Company) by 1 notch to CariA (Foreign Currency Rating) and CariA+ (Local Currency Rating) on the regional rating scale, and ttA (Foreign Currency Rating) and ttA+ (Local Currency Rating) on the Trinidad and Tobago national scale. A stable outlook was assigned.

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RATING SENSITIVITY FACTORS:

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to an improvement in the Ratings and/ or Outlook include:

• A return on assets (ROA) of 10% or above for 2 consecutive years
• Interest coverage ratio of 5 times or more for 2 consecutive years

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to a lowering of the Ratings and/ or Outlook include:

• A decline in the Gross Profit Margin to 35% or below for 1 year
• A weakening of interest cover to below 2 times
• A deterioration in debt/ tangible net worth (TNW) to more than 1.5 times
• Material deviation of PBSTTL’s audited financial accounts for 2024 from management accounts presented, resulting in a lower debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) and effective DSCR to less than 1 time and 2.5 times, respectively
• A demand by the Company’s parent, PBS, on its promissory note leading to an adverse impact on the Company’s cash flow adequacy and financial flexibility
• Deterioration in the sovereign risk profiles of the countries in which the Company operates

RATING ACTION:

On June 13, 2025, CariCRIS reaffirmed the assigned Issuer/Corporate Credit Ratings of CariBBB- (Foreign and Local Currency Ratings) on the regional rating scale, and jmBBB+ (Foreign and Local Currency Ratings) on the Jamaica national scale to Sygnus Credit Investments Limited (SCI or the Company). A positive outlook was assigned.

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RATING SENSITIVITY FACTORS:

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to an improvement in the rating and/or outlook:

• Improving business conditions over the next 12-15 months, thereby leading to an increased client base and sustained earnings growth as evidenced by growth in operating profit margin to 60% or more
• SCI’s ability to attract and retain lower-cost funding to below 6% and/or improvement in the net interest rate spread to over 2% over the next 12-15 months
• ROEA increases to 4.5% over the next 12 to 15 months

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to a lowering of the rating and/or outlook:

• Deterioration of asset quality as measured by the non-performing investment ratio to 8% or more, sustained for 2 consecutive years
• Increase of SCI’s debt to TNW and/or total debt to total assets ratio to over 1.2 times or above 50% respectively, for 2 consecutive financial years
• A sustained decrease in the net interest spread earned on investments to less than 1% for 2 consecutive financial years

Analysts’ Contact Info:

RATING ACTION:

On June 13, 2025, CariCRIS reaffirmed the Issuer/Corporate Credit ratings assigned to Premier Insurance Company Inc. (Premier or the Company) at CariA- (Local Currency Rating) on the regional rating scale, and gyA+ (Foreign Currency Rating) and gyAA- (Local Currency Rating) on the Guyana national scale. A stable outlook was maintained.

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RATING SENSITIVITY FACTORS:

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to an improvement in the Ratings and/ or Outlook include:

• Sustained return on equity (ROE) of >12% over the next 2 years without adversely impacting regulatory capital and asset quality
• An increase in the concentration of good quality, liquid fixed-income instruments leading to improved asset risk
• An improvement in the credit rating of TRINRE Insurance Company Limited (TRINRE or the Parent)

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to a lowering of the Ratings and/ or Outlook include:

• A decline in ROE to < 4% for 1 year
• A 2-notch deterioration of the credit rating of any of Premier’s reinsurers by A.M. Best, Fitch Rating or Standard and Poor’s Ratings Services
• Loss of relationship with any of the Company’s reinsurers without viable replacements
• A deterioration in the Company’s Minimum Capital and Solvency requirements below the quantities stipulated by the Bank of Guyana (BoG) sustained for more than 6 months
• A material deterioration in the Company’s investment asset quality sustained for a period of 6 months
• A lowering of the credit rating of TRINRE

RATING ACTION:

On August 30, 2022, CariCRIS has upgraded the assigned Issuer/Corporate Credit Ratings by 1-notch to CariBBB- (Foreign and Local Currency Ratings) on the regional rating scale, and jmBBB+ (Foreign and Local Currency Ratings) on the Jamaican national scale to Sygnus Credit Investments Limited (SCI or the Company). A stable outlook was also maintained.

RATING SENSITIVITY FACTORS:

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to an improvement of the rating and/or outlook:

• An improvement in the GOJ’s credit rating over the next 12-15 months
• Improving business conditions over the next 12-15 months, thereby leading to growth in client base and sustained earnings growth
• Further diversity in asset class through the successful launch of new products
• SCI’s ability to attract and retain lower cost funding

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to a lowering of the rating and/or outlook:

• Deterioration of asset quality ratio to 8% or more
• Increase of SCI’s debt to TNW and/or total debt to total assets ratio to over 1.25 times or above 50% respectively
• Cost to Income ratio weakens to 75% and over
• A sustained decrease in yield from average interest earning assets by over 150 basis points or greater and/or a rise in funding costs to over 8%, thereby leading to a tightening of the net interest spread earned on investments
• A deterioration in the GOJ’s credit rating over the next 12-15 months

Analysts’ Contact Info:

Anelia Oudit

Mobile : 1-868-487-8364

aoudit@caricris.com

Brandon Singh

bsingh@caricris.com

www.caricris.com 

info@caricris.com  

RATING ACTION:

On June 13, 2025, CariCRIS reaffirmed the assigned issuer/corporate credit ratings of CariA+ (Foreign and Local Currency Ratings) on the regional rating scale, and ttA+ (Foreign and Local Currency Ratings) on the Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) national scale to Point Lisas Industrial Port Development Corporation Limited (PLIPDECO or the Company). A stable outlook was assigned.

RATING SENSITIVITY FACTORS:

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to an improvement in the Ratings and/ or Outlook include:

• A greater than 8% y-o-y improvement in revenue for 2 consecutive years
• An improvement in profits by 40% for 2 consecutive years excluding the effects of revaluation gains and one-off incurrences

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to a lowering of the Ratings and/ or Outlook include:

• A material decline in revenue leading to a PAT margin of < 3% for 2 consecutive years
• DSCR falls to 1.1 times or below for 2 consecutive years
• Any material Company event that can result in default/breaches of loan covenants

RATING ACTION:

On June 13, 2025, CariCRIS reaffirmed the Issuer/Corporate Credit ratings assigned to Eastern Caribbean Home Mortgage Bank (ECHMB or the Company) at CariA- (Foreign and Local Currency Ratings) on the regional rating scale. A stable outlook was maintained

RATING SENSITIVITY FACTORS:

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to an improvement in the Ratings and/ or Outlook include:

• An increase in net interest spread to at least 2% sustained for 3 financial years
• Further diversity in income streams through the successful launch of new products, investments, and services
• An increase in return on earning assets (ROEA) to at least 2%, sustained for 3 financial years
• An increase in Tangible Net Worth (TNW) to Total Assets to at least 25%, sustained for 3 financial years
• Further diversity in funding to include sources from outside of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to a lowering of the Ratings and/ or Outlook include:

• A tightening of net interest spread to below 1%
• A decline in ROEA to less than 1% sustained for 3 financial years
• TNW to Total Assets below 12%

RATING ACTION:

On June 13, 2025, CariCRIS reaffirmed the assigned issuer ratings of CariA (Local and Foreign Currency Ratings) on the regional rating scale and jmAA (Local and Foreign Currency Rating) on the Jamaica national scale to GraceKennedy Limited (GKL or the Group). CariCRIS also reaffirmed the assigned issue ratings of the Group’s bond issue of up to J $3 billion ratings at CariA (Local Currency Rating) on the regional rating scale and jmAA (Local Currency Rating) on the Jamaica national scale. A stable outlook was assigned. 

RATING SENSITIVITY FACTORS:

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to an improvement in the Ratings and/ or Outlook include:

• An improvement in the creditworthiness of the Government of Jamaica
• Improvement in PAT margin to 5.5% and over sustained for 2 consecutive years
• Improvement in Operating Profit margin to 7.5% and over sustained for 2 consecutive years
• An increase in profitability resulting in return on assets (ROA) > 5% for 2 consecutive years

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to a lowering of the Ratings and/ or Outlook include:

• Substantial and sustained deterioration in operating revenue of more than 10% over 2 successive years
• A decline in operating profit margin to 5% or below
• Impending trade tensions and/or a material increase in tariffs that can adversely impact supply chain and inventory costs resulting in the GP margin falling to below 35%
• Decline in the parent company’s DSCR ratio to <1.33 times or fall in effective DSCR to below 1.5x
• Increase in Debt to EBITDA ratio to >4.0 times
• A lowering of the creditworthiness of the Government of Jamaica

RATING ACTION:

On June 13, 2025, CariCRIS reaffirmed the assigned issue ratings of CariAA- (Foreign and Local Currency Ratings) on the regional scale and ttAA- (Foreign and Local Currency Ratings) on the Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) national scale to the TT $36 million bond issue of Development Finance Limited (Development Finance). A stable outlook was assigned.

RATING SENSITIVITY FACTORS:

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to an improvement in the Ratings and/ or Outlook include:

• Improvement in the credit rating of the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago (GORTT)

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to a lowering of the Ratings and/ or Outlook include:

• Material impairment in any of the underlying securities
• Substantial deterioration in the financial performance and position of Development Finance
• Downgrade in the rating of the GORTT
• Breaches to any of the bond’s covenants
• Breach of covenants related to other long-term borrowings including limits related to non-performing loans
• A fall in the bond’s security coverage to below 1.0X