Malaysia's RAM says some IPP bonds affected by tax

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Malaysia's RAM Ratings said on Friday that nine of its 25 rated independent power producer-related bonds are likely to be affected by the windfall tax.

"The good news is that most of the ratings assigned to senior debt instruments by the project companies are not affected by the windfall tax payments," Wong Fook Wah, chief executive of RAM Ratings, told reporters.

"The bad news is that for the few affected issues, losses are expected to be sharply felt across the market; few bond issuers will be spared."

In June, the government announced that a windfall profit levy of 30 percent would be charged on return on assets for producers of electricity with return on assets in excess of 9 percent for each financial year. The tax has hit the price of bonds issued by independent power producers. (Reporting by Faisal Aziz; Editing by Niluksi Koswanage and Liau Y-Sing)