Fitch Affirms One Tranche of HYPPCO Finance Company Ltd

Business Wire, Sept 29, 2004

NEW YORK -- Fitch Ratings affirms one tranche of HYPPCO Finance Company Ltd. as follows:

--$115,671,026 class A-2 notes 'CCC-'.

HYPPCO Finance Company Ltd. (HYPPCO) is a collateralized debt obligation (CDO) managed by Delaware Investment Advisors, Inc. The CBO was established in February 1996, to issue approximately $322 million in notes and equity. Payments are made semi-annually in March and September and the reinvestment period ended in September, 2000. The ratings of the class A-2 notes address the timely payment of interest and the ultimate payment of principal.

Fitch reviewed the credit quality of the individual assets comprising the portfolio. Since Fitch's last rating action in January 2002, the portfolio continues to experience negative performance through impaired and defaulted assets, along with a negative change to the weighted average rating factor. The class A-1 notes have paid-in-full, while the class A-2 notes have paid down approximately 61% of its original note balance and all tranches are receiving current interest. Accordingly, as a result of its analysis, Fitch has determined that the assigned ratings to all rated notes reflect the current risk to noteholders.

Fitch will continue to monitor and review this transaction for future rating adjustments as needed. Additional deal information and historical data is available on the Fitch Ratings web site at 'www.fitchratings.com'.