Summit Power Limited has held an AAA credit rating from Credit Rating Information and Services Limited for more than five consecutive years through multiple annual reviews, according to the company’s annual report.
The rating continuity extended through October 2025, when Summit Meghnaghat Power Company Limited completed its final $190 million debt payment to international lenders precisely on schedule after a decade of operations. DEG, coordinating agent for the six-institution lending group, confirmed Summit Meghnaghat Power Company “complied with its obligations to the satisfaction of the DFI Facility Lenders.”
CRISL’s AAA designation indicates what the agency describes as the highest credit quality and strongest capacity for meeting financial commitments. Companies receiving this rating demonstrate “highest certainty of timely repayment,” paired with ST-1 short-term ratings that Summit Power Limited has also maintained throughout the assessment period.
“Despite financial and geopolitical pressures, SPL has maintained a AAA credit rating for over five years and consistently provided a cash dividend exceeding 10%,” wrote Chairman Latif Khan in a shareholder message.
This uninterrupted record of top-tier assessments is set against a backdrop of Bangladesh’s independent power producers navigating severe financial pressures as the country’s electricity sector underwent major shifts. Government arrears to independent power producers totalled BDT 23,283 crore by January 2025. Summit Power Limited documented payment backlogs exceeding nine months at certain points, yet continued generating electricity without interruption.
Annual rating reviews typically examine whether material deterioration has occurred in a company’s financial condition. Summit Power Limited’s sustained AAA status indicates CRISL detected no creditworthiness decline despite industrywide financial stress affecting every independent power producer operating in Bangladesh.
Oversight Systems
Summit Power Limited, listed on Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges, generates electricity at facilities across Bangladesh under long-term power purchase agreements with Bangladesh Power Development Board and Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board. The company operates as a subsidiary of Singapore-incorporated Summit Power International.
Summit Power Limited’s credit strength derives partly from oversight frameworks established through its international financing relationships. Parent company Summit Power International’s 2016 Singapore incorporation brought governance mechanisms that differ from standard Bangladesh corporate practices.
The development finance institutions funding Summit projects enforce detailed accountability requirements. Before releasing construction funds, lenders require technical consultants to verify that contractors have completed specified project milestones.
“To be able to pay an invoice to a contractor, the lender’s technical advisor has to certify that the relevant milestones have been met before lenders are willing to disburse funds to pay those contractors.” explained Wu Yan Bin, chief financial officer at Summit Power International.
The company maintains ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System, ISO 14001:2015 Environmental Management System, and ISO 45001:2018 Occupational Health and Safety Management System certifications. Financial reporting follows International Financial Reporting Standards.
Three Decades Without Default
Summit Power Limited’s financing history since 1997 contains zero instances of missed payments to lenders or bondholders.
The October 2025 Meghnaghat debt retirement is the most recent documentation of this performance. The $190 million financing involved Standard Chartered Bank, DEG Germany, FMO Netherlands, OPEC Fund for International Development, British International Investment, and Bangladesh’s Infrastructure Development Company Limited. Summit Meghnaghat Power Company met every scheduled debt service obligation across the loan’s term.
“This successful repayment reflects Summit’s unwavering commitment to transparency, operational excellence, and responsible partnership with international lenders,” said Summit Group founder Muhammed Aziz Khan. “It also demonstrates Bangladesh’s growing capacity to manage large-scale, internationally financed projects with integrity and professionalism.”
Lender diversity characterizes Summit’s financing structure. The company has accessed capital from international institutions including Clifford Capital, SMBC, ICD, OFID, DEG, and FMO, while also working with domestic lenders such as IDCOL, Standard Chartered Bank, and Dhaka Bank Limited. This broad financing base demonstrates multiple institutions’ sustained confidence in the company’s creditworthiness.
Capital Cost Advantage Through International Markets
Summit Power Limited’s international financing access provides capital at costs well below domestic Bangladesh alternatives. Local borrowing rates average approximately 14% creating financing expenses that would inflate electricity tariffs.
The International Finance Corporation’s $175.5 million investment in Summit Power International during 2016, alongside IFC Asset Management Company and EMA Power, enabled Summit Group’s Singapore structure creation. This corporate architecture fundamentally altered the company’s capital market access.
“IFC facilitated the incorporation of a Singapore entity and invested in the structure, which enabled the Singapore entity to invest back into Bangladesh,” said Ayesha Khan, managing director and CEO of Summit Power International. “So that was a very important transition period for us and a very important transformation for us. It did change the way we started doing business.”
Operating Results and Industry Position
Operational performance contributed to Summit Power Limited’s credit rating maintenance. The company’s facilities rank among the country’s most efficient generators. Projects secured initial contracts by submitting the lowest tariff proposals among competing bids at their respective award dates.
Summit Group operates 18 power plants across its corporate entities with combined capacity exceeding 2,000 MW, establishing it as Bangladesh’s largest independent power producer. The group also runs Bangladesh’s second floating storage and regasification unit, handling 500 million cubic feet daily.
AAA credit ratings function as independent assessments of financial strength and repayment capacity. Top-tier ratings typically reduce companies’ capital costs compared to lower-rated competitors, since lenders face diminished default risk. Sustained ratings provide Summit Power Limited with ongoing access to favorable financing terms.
CRISL evaluates multiple dimensions including financial performance, cash flow generation, debt service coverage ratios, management quality, and competitive position. The agency’s default statistics show zero defaults at AAA or AA rating levels across its complete rating universe, reflecting conservative standards for top-tier grade assignments.
International financial institutions including Clifford Capital, SMBC, IDCOL, ICD, and OFID continued providing credit to Summit Power Limited throughout the rating period. These institutions’ persistent lending relationships offer independent validation of the company’s financial stability separate from credit rating agency evaluations.
“What Bangladesh has is a lot of opportunities and a lot of growth. But what it lacks is governance and what it lacks is a mature financial market, both of which are very much necessary to do long-term infrastructure projects,” said Ayesha Khan.
Summit Power Limited’s decade-long AAA rating sequence documents sustained financial discipline during Bangladesh’s electricity sector transformation. The period encompassed by these consecutive top assessments saw Bangladesh progress toward near-universal electricity access, with private generators including Summit Power Limited providing substantial portions of new generation capacity that enabled this expansion.
The post Summit Power Limited Maintains AAA Credit Rating Through Consecutive CRISL Assessments first appeared on Tycoonstory Media.
Source: Cosmo Politian
