Press Release

JCR-VIS Upgrades Secured Debt Ratings of Jamshoro Joint Venture Limited to A+

Karachi, December 30, 2005: JCR-VIS Credit Rating Company Limited (JCR-VIS) has upgraded the medium to long term entity ratings of Jamshoro Joint Venture Limited (JJVL) to A (Single A) from BBB+ (Triple B Plus) and short-term entity ratings to A-2 (Single A Two) from A-3 (Single A Three). The medium to long-term secured debt rating has also been upgraded to A+ (Single A Plus) from A- (Single A Minus). The outlook on the medium to long-term ratings is ‘Stable’.

The upgrade takes into account the successful commissioning of the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) extraction plant, albeit later than expected due to certain modifications, and subsequent strong ongoing cashflow generation as the plant has started operating on high capacity utilization in the current year. The technology utilized in the LPG plant is state-of-the-art licensed by Ortloff Engineers Ltd. and was engineered, constructed and commissioned by The Hanover Company of Houston, Texas, who are currently the operation and maintenance contractors for the plant. Although, it was initially expected that JJVL’s capacity would take some time to be absorbed in the local market, strong demand has meant that JJVL is more or less assured complete offtake of its entire production.

We expect that now the leverage level of the company will fall rapidly with the ongoing strong cashflow generation as initial teething problems faced at the LPG plant as well as the storage constraints are being resolved. Meanwhile the repayments of the initial project financing, amounting to Rs. 1,235m, started from the first quarter of FY2006 and is more than adequately covered from the current level of cashflow generation while the management also intends to conserve excess cash build up specifically for this purpose.

For further information on this rating announcement, please contact Mr. Safdar Kazi (safdar@jcrvis.com.pk / Ext: 221) or Mr. Saad Ahmed Madani (saad@jcrvis.com.pk / ext: 219) at 5671822/5671833/5680996 or fax to 5681105/5671600.



Faheem Ahmad
President & CEO

Information herein was obtained from sources believed to be accurate and reliable; however, VIS Credit Rating Company Limited (VIS) does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of any information and is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of such information.VIS , the analysts involved in the rating process and members of its rating committee do not have any conflict of interest relating to the rating(s)/ranking(s) mentioned in this report.VIS is paid a fee for most rating assignments. This rating/ranking is an opinion and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any securities. Copyright 2005 VIS Credit Rating Company Limited . All rights reserved. Contents may be used by news media with credit to VIS .