Credit Ratings Explanations
Standard & Poors
Long-Term Issue Credit Ratings A+
An obligor rated 'A' has STRONG capacity to meet its financial commitments but is somewhat more susceptible to the adverse effects of changes in circumstances and economic conditions than obligors in higher-rated categories.
Plus (+) or minus (-)
The ratings from 'AA' to 'CCC' may be modified by the addition of a plus or minus sign to show relative standing within the major rating categories.
Short-Term Issue Credit Ratings A-1
A short-term obligation rated 'A-1' is rated in the highest category by Standard & Poor's. The obligor's capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation is strong. Within this category, certain obligations are designated with a plus sign (+). This indicates that the obligor's capacity to meet its financial commitment on these obligations is extremely strong.
Source www.standardandpoors.com
Moody's
Long-Term Rating Aa3
Moody's long-term obligation ratings are opinions of the relative credit risk of fixed-income obligations with an original maturity of one year or more. They address the possibility that a financial obligation will not be honoured as promised. Such ratings reflect both the likelihood of default and any financial loss suffered in the event of default.
Obligations rated Aa are judged to be of high quality and are subject to very low credit risk.
Note: Moody's appends numerical modifiers 1, 2, and 3 to each generic rating classification, from Aa through to Caa. The modifier 1 indicates that the obligation ranks in the higher end of its generic rating category; the modifier 2 indicates a mid-range ranking; and the modifier 3 indicates a ranking in the lower end of that generic rating category.
Short-Term Rating P-1
Moody's short-term ratings are opinions of the ability of issuers to honour short-term financial obligations. Ratings may be assigned to issuers, short-term programs or to individual short-term debt instruments. Such obligations generally have an original maturity not exceeding thirteen months, unless explicitly noted.
Moody's employs the following designations to indicate the relative repayment ability of rated issuers: Issuers (or supporting institutions) rated Prime-1 have a superior ability to repay short-term debt obligations.
Fitch Ratings
Long term AA-
Very high credit quality. 'AA' ratings denote a very low expectation of credit risk. They indicate very strong capacity for timely payment of financial commitments. This capacity is not significantly vulnerable to foreseeable events.
"+" or "-" may be appended to a rating to denote relative status within major rating categories.
Short term F1+
Highest credit quality. Indicates the strongest capacity for timely payment of financial commitments; may have an added "+" to denote any exceptionally strong credit feature.
Dominion Bond Rating Service
Long term AA
Long-term debt rated AA is of superior credit quality, and protection of interest and principal is considered high. In many cases they differ from long-term debt rated AAA only to a small degree. Given the extremely restrictive definition DBRS has for the AAA category, entities rated AA are also considered to be strong credits, typically exemplifying above average strength in key areas of consideration and unlikely to be significantly affected by reasonably foreseeable events.
The DBRS long-term debt rating scale is meant to give an indication of the risk that a borrower will not fulfil its full obligations in a timely manner, with respect to both interest and principal commitments. Every DBRS rating is based on quantitative and qualitative considerations relevant to the borrowing entity. Each rating category is denoted by the subcategories "high" and "low". The absence of either a "high" or "low" designation indicates the rating is in the "middle" of the category. The AAA and D categories do not utilize "high", "middle", and "low" as differential grades.
Short-term debt rated R-1 (middle)
Short-term debt rated R-1 (middle) is of superior credit quality and, in most cases, ratings in this category differ from R-1 (high) credits by only a small degree. Given the extremely tough definition DBRS has established for the R-1 (high) category, entities rated R-1 (middle) are also considered strong credits, and typically exemplify above average strength in key areas of consideration for the timely repayment of short-term liabilities.
The DBRS short-term debt rating scale is meant to give an indication of the risk that a borrower will not fulfil its near-term debt obligations in a timely manner. Every DBRS rating is based on quantitative and qualitative considerations relevant to the borrowing entity. Each rating category is denoted by the subcategories "high", "middle", and "low".