Fitch cuts Shin Kong

Fitch Ratings said it downgraded ratings on Shin Kong Financial Holding Co. Ltd. and its subsidiaries Shin Kong Life Insurance Co. Ltd., Taiwan Shin Kong Commercial Bank and Shin Kong Securities.

Shin Kong Financial's long-term issuer default rating was downgraded to B+ from BBB-, short-term issuer default rating to B from F3, national long-term rating to BBB-(twn) from A(twn) and national short-term rating to F3(twn) from F1(twn).

Shin Kong Bank's long-term issuer default rating was downgraded to BB from BBB-, short-term issuer default rating to B from F3, national long-term rating to BBB+(twn) from A(twn) and national short-term rating to F2(twn) from F1(twn).

Shin Kong Securities' long-term issuer default rating was downgraded to BB- from BBB-, short-term issuer default rating to B from F3, national long-term rating to BBB(twn) from A(twn) and national short-term rating to F3(twn) from F1(twn).

The agency also said it removed the ratings from Rating Watch negative and assigned a negative outlook.

The downgrades primarily reflect the group's principal operating subsidiary, its much weakened capitalization as well as Shin Kong Financial's standalone increased debt gearing and reduced liquidity, Fitch said.

The negative outlook reflects a view that the challenging economic conditions and low interest rates would continue to weigh on the company's profitability and place downward pressure on its capitalization, the agency said.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.