Fitch revises CIFI outlook to negative

Fitch Ratings said it revised the outlook on CIFI Holdings (Group) Co. Ltd. to negative from stable and affirmed the long-term foreign- and local-currency issuer default ratings at BB. The agency also affirmed CIFI's senior unsecured rating and the ratings on its outstanding notes at BB.

“The negative outlook is driven by CIFI's higher-than-expected leverage, continued sales pressure due to a Covid-19 resurgence and the associated social restrictions in China, and increasing risks at CIFI's joint-venture (JV) projects as some of its JV partners have delayed the publication of their audited financial reports,” Fitch said in a press release.

DBRS turns Hercules trend to positive

DBRS said it confirmed the ratings of Hercules Capital, Inc., including the company’s BBB long-term issuer rating and revised the trend to positive from stable.

“The confirmation of ratings and revising the trend from stable to positive reflect Hercules’ continued strong performance supported by its defensible position in the venture capital (VC) ecosystem. The company’s significant direct venture lending franchise has maintained robust earnings generation capacity while sustaining sound credit quality. The ratings also consider Hercules’ broad and diversified funding profile, as well as its conservative leverage,” DBRS said in a press release.

S&P turns IAG outlook to stable

S&P said it changed the outlook for International Consolidated Airlines Group SA to stable from negative and affirmed the BB ratings on the company and its unsecured debt.

“The omicron variant constrained passenger volumes in first-quarter 2022, but pent-up demand should support a strong summer season. Assuming no renewed and protracted travel restrictions beyond those currently in place, we anticipate European airline traffic will reach 50%-65% of 2019 levels in 2022 and 70%-85% in 2023, rising close to the 2019 base only by 2024,” S&P said in a press release.

The agency noted IAG also boosted its operating capacity, or available seat kilometers, to 65% of 2019 levels from the 58% deployed in fourth-quarter 2021.

“This represented a significant increase compared with 2021, when it flew 36% of pre-pandemic capacity,” S&P said.

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