Hong Kong, November 28, 2019 -- Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") has affirmed
Orient Securities Company Limited (Orient Securities)'s Baa3 long-term
issuer rating, Baa3 senior unsecured rating and P-3 short-term
issuer rating. Moody's has also affirmed Orient Securities'
(P)Baa3 senior unsecured rating and (P)P-3 short-term rating
for the MTN program. At the same time, Moody's has
affirmed the Baa3 rating on Orient HuiZhi Limited (Orient HuiZhi)'s
senior unsecured long-term notes guaranteed by Orient Securities.
The outlooks on both Orient Securities and Orient HuiZhi are stable.
RATINGS RATIONALE
The affirmation of Orient Securities' Baa3/P-3 issuer ratings
reflects Orient Securities' standalone assessment at Ba2 and Moody's
continued expectation for a high level of affiliate support from Shenergy
(Group) Co., Ltd. (Shenergy, A1 Stable,
baa1 baseline credit assessment) as well as a high level of support from
the Government of China (A1 Stable) in times of stress.
The Ba2 standalone assessment reflects Orient Securities' solid
liquidity and funding positions, low leverage, a stable and
experienced management team, as well as a reputable asset management
franchise. Offsetting these credit strengths are Orient Securities'
continued reliance on proprietary trading, high exposure to the
stock-pledged lending business along with the resulting volatile
profitability. The company has also been actively expanding the
FICC business especially commodity trading which could raise operational
and market risks.
Orient Securities has retained high levels of liquidity and funding in
the past years and proactively diversified its funding channels through
issuing debt in various forms -- including senior unsecured,
subordinated, domestic and foreign currencies -- in the both
onshore and offshore markets. The diversification in funding channels
has helped the company to reduce its borrowing costs. Orient Securities
also benefits from the wider access to liquidity after the central bank
in China granted permission to a group of first-tier securities
companies to issue financial bonds and raised the issuance limit for short-term
financing bills.
Similar to other Chinese securities companies, Orient Securities
has maintained low leverage compared to its global peers and reported
a leverage ratio (including client deposits) at 4.7x as of the
first half of 2019.
Orient Securities also has a reputable asset management franchise with
majority of its assets under management in active strategies -- which
is unique compared to its mainland China-based securities companies
peers -- allowing the company to charge higher management fees and
efficiently adapt to the new asset management regulations.
On the other hand, Orient Securities manages a large proprietary
trading portfolio investing in both equity and fixed income securities
with most of the holdings in the latter category. The high exposure
has led to elevated earnings volatility in the past years including a
net investment loss in 2018.
Orient Securities also has a high exposure to the stock-pledged
lending business which grew rapidly during 2014-2016. Although
Orient Securities has proactively curtailed the growth since 2017 and
suspended any new business since mid-2018, risk in the existing
portfolio has been materializing in the past year or so with the company
recognizing sizable impairments which could further increase given that
17.8% of net loan balance was categorized in stage three
as of the first half of 2019.
In addition, the company's rapid growth in the new and adjacent
business areas -- including FICC especially in commodity trading
as well as structured product trading and distribution through the Hong
Kong subsidiary -- could raise operational and market risks.
The assumption of a high level of affiliate support is based on Orient
Securities' strategic importance to Shenergy, which is in
turn wholly owned by the Shanghai municipal government. Shenergy
has long been the largest shareholder of Orient Securities and also participated
in the private placement in 2017 through which it increased its stake
from 24.74% to 25.27%. In the past,
Shenergy also provided liquidity support to Orient Securities' by
subscribing to the company's subordinated debt issuance and lending
credit facilities.
The assumption of a high level of government support reflects that Orient
Securities is one of the major securities companies in China by total
assets and a group of state-owned enterprises together own 43.3%
of Orient Securities as of July 2019.
What Could Change the Rating -- Up
Orient Securities' ratings could be upgraded if the company (1)
diversifies its business mix away from the proprietary trading business,
(2) maintains its adjusted funding and liquidity ratios above 100%,
(3) stabilizes the pretax earnings volatility, and (4) keeps its
leverage ratio below 4.5x.
Orient Securities' ratings could also be upgraded if (1) the operating
environment score for the market makers in mainland China improves as
China's capital markets continue to deepen, without episodes
of high volatility, and industry consolidation improves the pricing
power of leading companies, or (2) Moody's assesses that the
support from Shenergy to the company will increase.
What Could Change the Rating -- Down
Orient Securities' ratings could be downgraded if Moody's
assesses that the Chinese government or Shenergy's willingness and
ability to support the firm has weakened.
Orient Securities' ratings could also be downgraded if the company
(1) encounters a material deterioration in its profitability, (2)
experiences a material weakening in its financial profile, for example,
because of a substantial increase in its leverage to above 6x or a deterioration
in liquidity and funding, or (3) becomes subject to regulatory sanctions
that impair its franchise and management stability.
The principal methodology used in these ratings was Securities Industry
Market Makers Methodology published in November 2019. Please see
the Rating Methodologies page on www.moodys.com for a copy
of this methodology.
Headquartered in Shanghai, China, Orient Securities Company
Limited reported assets of RMB247 billion as of the first half of 2019.
REGULATORY DISCLOSURES
For ratings issued on a program, series, category/class of
debt or security this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures
in relation to each rating of a subsequently issued bond or note of the
same series, category/class of debt, security or pursuant
to a program for which the ratings are derived exclusively from existing
ratings in accordance with Moody's rating practices. For ratings
issued on a support provider, this announcement provides certain
regulatory disclosures in relation to the credit rating action on the
support provider and in relation to each particular credit rating action
for securities that derive their credit ratings from the support provider's
credit rating. For provisional ratings, this announcement
provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation to the provisional
rating assigned, and in relation to a definitive rating that may
be assigned subsequent to the final issuance of the debt, in each
case where the transaction structure and terms have not changed prior
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and whose ratings may change as a result of this credit rating action,
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to rated entity, Disclosure from rated entity.
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The first name below is the lead rating analyst for this Credit Rating
and the last name below is the person primarily responsible for approving
this Credit Rating.
Lan Wang, CFA
Analyst
Financial Institutions Group
Moody's Investors Service Hong Kong Ltd.
24/F One Pacific Place
88 Queensway
Hong Kong
China (Hong Kong S.A.R.)
JOURNALISTS: 852 3758 1350
Client Service: 852 3551 3077
Yat Man Sally Yim, CFA
Associate Managing Director
Financial Institutions Group
JOURNALISTS: 852 3758 1350
Client Service: 852 3551 3077
Releasing Office:
Moody's Investors Service Hong Kong Ltd.
24/F One Pacific Place
88 Queensway
Hong Kong
China (Hong Kong S.A.R.)
JOURNALISTS: 852 3758 1350
Client Service: 852 3551 3077