Hong Kong, October 26, 2021 -- Moody's Investors Service has downgraded the corporate family rating
(CFR) of Modern Land (China) Co., Limited (Modern Land) to
Ca from Caa2.
At the same time, Moody's has downgraded to C from Caa3 the senior
unsecured rating on the bonds issued by Modern Land.
The outlook is changed to negative from ratings under review.
This rating action concludes the review for downgrade of Modern Land's
ratings initiated on 11 October 2021.
"The downgrade reflects our expectation of weak recovery prospects for
Modern Land's bondholders after the company's announcement on 26
October that it had missed the payment on its USD250 million bond due
on 25 October 2021[1]," says Celine Yang, a Moody's Vice
President and Senior Analyst.
The negative outlook reflects Moody's view that recovery prospects for
Modern Land's creditors could weaken further.
RATINGS RATIONALE
Modern Land's Ca CFR reflects the company's default on its bond repayment
and the weak recovery prospects for its creditors.
Modern Land's repayment risk will remain elevated as the missed payment
could trigger a cross default and accelerate the repayment of the company's
other debt obligations.
Moody's expects the company's unrestricted cash of RMB13.6
billion as of the end of June 2021 will not be sufficient to repay all
of the maturing debt in full.
Modern Land will have to rely on asset sales or investments from potential
investors to generate funds to pay its debt. However, these
fundraising activities entail high uncertainties and recovery prospects
for creditors remain uncertain.
In terms of environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations,
Moody's has considered Modern Land's weak financial management.
Moody's has also considered the company's concentrated ownership
by its founder and chairperson, Zhang Lei, who held around
a 66.1% stake as of the end of June 2021.
Modern Land's C senior unsecured debt rating is one notch lower than the
company's Ca CFR due to structural subordination risk. The subordination
risk refers to the fact that the majority of Modern Land's claims are
at its operating subsidiaries and have priority over claims at the holding
company in a bankruptcy scenario. In addition, the holding
company lacks significant mitigating factors for structural subordination.
Consequently, the expected recovery rate for claims at the holding
company will be lower.
FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OR DOWNGRADE OF THE RATINGS
An upgrade is unlikely, given the negative outlook.
However, positive rating momentum could develop if Modern Land repays
its maturing debt and improves its liquidity position materially.
The principal methodology used in these ratings was Homebuilding And Property
Development Industry published in January 2018 and available at https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_1108031.
Alternatively, please see the Rating Methodologies page on www.moodys.com
for a copy of this methodology.
Modern Land (China) Co., Limited was founded in Beijing in
2000 by Mr. Zhang Lei, who is the company's current chairman.
The company specializes in developing green housing units and is among
the few early leaders in China's green and eco-lifestyle market.
Modern Land was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in July 2013.
As of June 2021, the company had a gross land bank of around 16.8
million square meters in terms of gross floor area.
REGULATORY DISCLOSURES
For further specification of Moody's key rating assumptions and sensitivity
analysis, see the sections Methodology Assumptions and Sensitivity
to Assumptions in the disclosure form. Moody's Rating Symbols and
Definitions can be found at: https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_79004.
For ratings issued on a program, series, category/class of
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same series, category/class of debt, security or pursuant
to a program for which the ratings are derived exclusively from existing
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The Global Scale Credit Rating on this Credit Rating Announcement was
issued by one of Moody's affiliates outside the EU and is endorsed by
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60322, Germany, in accordance with Art.4 paragraph
3 of the Regulation (EC) No 1060/2009 on Credit Rating Agencies.
Further information on the EU endorsement status and on the Moody's office
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The Global Scale Credit Rating on this Credit Rating Announcement was
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REFERENCES/CITATIONS
[1] Modern Land's announcement filed on Stock Exchange of Hong Kong
26-Oct-2021
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.
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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.
YuYing (Celine) Yang
Vice President - Senior Analyst
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.)
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Franco Leung
Associate Managing Director
Corporate Finance Group
JOURNALISTS: 852 3758 1350
Client Service: 852 3551 3077
Kaven Tsang
Senior Vice President
Corporate Finance Group
JOURNALISTS: 852 3758 1350
Client Service: 852 3551 3077
Releasing Office:
Moody's Investors Service Hong Kong Ltd.
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