S&P affirms Hapag-Lloyd

Standard & Poor's said it affirmed its B+ long-term corporate credit rating on Hapag-Lloyd AG.

The outlook is stable.

At the same time, the agency affirmed its B- issue rating on Hapag-Lloyd's unsecured notes. The recovery rating of 6 indicates an expectation of negligible recovery (0%-10%) in the event of a default.

S&P said the affirmation reflects its opinion that the planned IPO won't materially change Hapag-Lloyd's financial risk profile. The company plans to use the targeted net cash proceeds of $500 million (€450 million) predominantly to acquire new vessels and containers in the next 24 months and not to reduce debt.

Furthermore, the agency revised its base-case scenario to include lower volumes and freight rates than previously forecast, which are, however, fully offset by greater cost savings and lower bunker prices than in the previous base case. The result is a largely unchanged EBITDA forecast for the company in 2015-2016.

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