Hong Kong, May 24, 2017 -- Moody's Investors Service has today downgraded the ratings of 26 Chinese
non-financial corporate and infrastructure government-related
issuers (GRIs) and rated subsidiaries by one notch from their previous
levels.
The 26 issuers comprise 1) 17 GRIs and rated subsidiaries that are ultimately
owned by the central government (central GRIs), and 2) nine GRIs
and rated subsidiaries that are ultimately owned by regional and local
governments (local GRIs).
At the same time, Moody's has changed to stable from negative
the rating outlooks of 24 out of the 26 GRIs and rated subsidiaries.
The outlooks on the two remaining GRI subsidiaries are negative.
This follows Moody's decision to downgrade China's sovereign
rating to A1 from Aa3 and change the outlook to stable from negative,
as announced on May 24, 2017.
For full details on China's sovereign rating action, please
refer to the webpage:
http://www.moodys.com/viewresearchdoc.aspx?docid=PR_366139
The attached From-To list in this PR includes debt-issuing
special purpose vehicles. The total number of downgraded Chinese
GRIs and rated subsidiaries stated above excludes debt-issuing
special purpose vehicles.
Please click on this link (http://www.moodys.com/viewresearchdoc.aspx?docid=PBC_195684)
for the List of Affected Credit Ratings. This list is an integral
part of this Press Release and identifies each affected issuer.
RATINGS RATIONALE
Please click on this link (http://www.moodys.com/viewresearchdoc.aspx?docid=PBC_195684)
for the List of Affected Credit Ratings. This list is an integral
part of this Press Release and provides, for each of the credit
ratings covered, Moody's disclosures on the following items:
Principal Methodologies
Local Market Analyst
Lead Analyst
The rating action reflects:
a) The downgrade of the sovereign and consequent equivalent negative flow-on
impact to our assessment of the credit quality of regional and local governments
(RLGs) which are closely connected to the sovereign;
b) Under Moody's joint default analysis approach for GRIs,
the rating or credit quality of governments providing support to GRIs
is one of the key inputs for the GRIs' ratings. For this
group of GRIs and subsidiaries, their ratings are very sensitive
to a decline in the rating or credit quality of their owner government;
c) As a result, each of the relevant GRIs is downgraded by one notch,
consistent with the downgrade of the sovereign rating.
The stable outlooks for the 24 GRIs and rated subsidiaries reflect 1)
the stable outlook on the sovereign rating, and 2) the consideration
that these companies' baseline credit assessments (BCAs) or standalone
credit profiles remain appropriately positioned at their rating levels.
The negative outlooks for the remaining two central GRI subsidiaries reflect
Moody's assessment that their standalone credit profiles will remain
under pressure over the next 12-18 months, owing to their
acquisitive business strategies, which will likely increase their
debt leverage, and/or the potential negative impact from an evolving
regulatory regime.
The ratings for these 24 GRIs and subsidiaries could be upgraded (1) if
the sovereign rating is upgraded; and/or (2) the GRIs' BCAs
or the subsidiaries' standalone credit profiles improve significantly,
including their financial metrics strengthening beyond the rating parameters
of the respective issuers.
The ratings for these GRIs and subsidiaries could be downgraded if (1)
the sovereign rating is downgraded, or their owner government or
parents' willingness to support them weakens; and/or (2) the
GRIs' BCAs or the rated subsidiaries' standalone credit profiles
weaken meaningfully, including their financial metrics falling short
of the rating parameters of the individual issuers.
The negative outlooks for the two central GRI subsidiaries could be revised
to stable if; (1) their parents' credit ratings strengthen;
and/or (2) their standalone credit profiles improve significantly.
REGULATORY DISCLOSURES
Please click on this link (http://www.moodys.com/viewresearchdoc.aspx?docid=PBC_195684)
for the List of Affected Credit Ratings. This list is an integral
part of this Press Release and provides, for each of the credit
ratings covered, Moody's disclosures on the following items:
• Releasing Office
• Person Approving the Credit Rating
For ratings issued on a program, series or category/class of debt,
this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation
to each rating of a subsequently issued bond or note of the same series
or category/class of debt 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 to the assignment of the definitive
rating in a manner that would have affected the rating. For further
information please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page for the
respective issuer on www.moodys.com.
For any affected securities or rated entities receiving direct credit
support from the primary entity(ies) of this credit rating action,
and whose ratings may change as a result of this credit rating action,
the associated regulatory disclosures will be those of the guarantor entity.
Exceptions to this approach exist for the following disclosures,
if applicable to jurisdiction: Ancillary Services, Disclosure
to rated entity, Disclosure from rated entity.
The below contact information is provided for information purposes only.
Please see the ratings tab of the issuer page at www.moodys.com,
for each of the ratings covered, Moody's disclosures on the
lead analyst and the Moody's legal entity that has issued the ratings.
Regulatory disclosures contained in this press release apply to the credit
rating and, if applicable, the related rating outlook or rating
review.
Please see www.moodys.com for any updates on changes to
the lead rating analyst and to the Moody's legal entity that has issued
the rating.
Please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com
for additional regulatory disclosures for each credit rating.
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.
Simon Wong
Associate Managing Director
Corporate Finance 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
Gary Lau
MD - Corporate Finance
Corporate Finance 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
