S&P cuts Evergrande, units

S&P said it cut China Evergrande Group and its Hengda Real Estate Group Co. Ltd. and Tianji Holding Ltd. to CC from CCC. The agency also slashed the long-term issue rating on the U.S. dollar notes issued by Evergrande and guaranteed by Tianji to C from CCC-.

“We downgraded Evergrande because the company's liquidity appears to be depleted. As such, we believe nonpayment risk is extremely high and could ultimately lead to debt restructuring–meaning a default scenario is a virtual certainty,” S&P said in a press release.

Evergrande is negotiating repayment terms and two of its subsidiaries failed to meet guarantee obligations on wealth management products to retail investors, the agency noted.

The outlook is negative.

Fitch upgrades CPC Corp., Taiwan

Fitch Ratings said it upgraded CPC Corp., Taiwan's long-term foreign- and local-currency issuer default ratings to AA from AA-.

The upgrade follows the upgrade of the Taiwan, China sovereign's IDR on Friday, Fitch said.

The outlook is stable.

Moody's ups Evraz notes

Moody's Investors Service said it upgraded the senior unsecured notes issued by Evraz plc to Ba1 from Ba2. The agency also withdrew the company's Ba1 corporate family rating and Ba1-PD probability of default rating, as per the rating agency's practice for corporates transitioning to investment grade.

"The upgrade reflects the stronger credit profile of the Evraz group overall, which we now view as comparable in aggregate to Baa3 peers. However, the Ba1 senior unsecured instrument rating at the Evraz plc holdco level is still positioned a notch lower reflecting continued structural subordination of this instrument to senior unsecured debt raised at operating company level. The upgrade also reflects our expectation that the company will maintain strong credit metrics and conservative financial policy post coal assets demerger under various steel, coal and iron ore price scenarios" said Denis Perevezentsev, a vice president and senior credit officer at Moody's, in a press release.

The outlook remains stable.

Moody's upgrades Geo Energy

Moody's Investors Service said it upgraded Geo Energy Resources Ltd.’s corporate family rating to B3 from Caa1. Additionally, the agency raised the senior unsecured guaranteed notes issued by Geo Coal International Pte. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Geo Energy, to B3 from Caa1

"The ratings upgrade to B3 reflects the elimination of refinancing risk following the redemption of its remaining outstanding notes next month with cash on hand," said Maisam Hasnain, a Moody's vice president and senior analyst, in a press release.

"Although the company will be effectively debt free, Geo Energy's credit profile remains constrained by its small scale, declining coal reserves and uncertainty over its diversification strategy," Hasnain said.

The outlook remains stable.

Moody's upgrades Singapore Power

Moody's Investors Service said it upgraded Singapore Power Ltd.'s issuer rating to Aa1 from Aa2 and raised the senior unsecured ratings of SP PowerAssets Ltd. and the backed senior unsecured ratings of SP Group Treasury Pte. Ltd. to Aa1 from Aa2.

"The upgrades reflect the conclusion of the regulatory reset for the Singapore regulated transmission and distribution businesses, which underpins SP's credit profile. The reset provides certainty that SP will maintain strong financial metrics for the remainder of the current five-year regulatory period that started on April 1, 2020," said Ray Tay, a Moody's senior vice president, in a press release.

The outlook remains stable.

S&P boosts Usiminas

S&P said it raised Usinas Siderurgicas de Minas Gerais SA’s issuer rating (Usiminas) to BB from BB- on its global scale and national scale issuer credit and issue-level ratings to brAAA from brAA+. The 3 recovery ratings, with an average recovery of 65% (rounded estimate), remain unchanged.

“Usiminas' EBITDA and free cash flows surged in the past 12 months ended June 2021, given robust steel demand despite considerable price hikes. These factors led to the company's steel segment quarterly net revenue per ton growth of 20%-25% in each of the past two quarters, while there are currently no signs of demand weakening,” S&P said in a press release.

The agency said it forecasts 2021 to be a record year for the company and sees healthy results, even with lower iron ore prices and a weakening in the domestic steel market, ahead in 2022.

The outlook is stable.

S&P turns Central China view to negative

S&P said it revised its outlook for Central China Real Estate Ltd. and affirmed the B+ issuer and senior notes ratings.

“The negative outlook reflects our view that CCRE will face operational and financial challenges in the next year. While Henan's economic rebound post-Covid has lagged other provinces and a recovery from the major flood in July could take time, CCRE has recently lowered its contracted sales guidance for 2021 to Chinese renminbi (RMB) 70 billion from RMB 80 billion. We believe CCRE will also need to prioritize its short-term offshore maturities and will likely repay using internal resources due to market volatility. This will likely be at the expense of construction and land spending, taking resources away from business expansion needs,” S&P said in a press release.

Fitch revises Sinic view to negative

Fitch Ratings said it revised the outlook on Sinic Holdings (Group) Co. Ltd.'s long-term issuer default rating to negative, from stable, and has affirmed the rating at B+. The agency also affirmed Sinic's senior unsecured rating at B+ with an RR4 recovery rating.

“The negative outlook reflects Sinic's weakened access to the debt capital market and the rising execution risk of its high-churn business strategy. Fitch affirmed the rating based on Sinic's adequate liquidity, feasible refinancing plan and improving leverage, as measured by net debt (including guarantees to joint ventures (JV) and associates)/adjusted inventory, of 47% in 1H21, compared with 52% at end-2020,” the agency said in a press release.

Moody's gives SK Hynix negative outlook

Moody's Investors Service said it confirmed SK Hynix Inc.'s Baa2 issuer and senior unsecured ratings and changed the outlook to negative from under review.

This action concludes the review for downgrade started on June 16, following SK Telecom Co., Ltd.'s announcement it would spin off its 20% stake in SK Hynix into a new sister company, which will be named SK Square Co., Ltd., the agency said.

"The rating confirmation recognizes SK Hynix's strengthening competitive position and its ability to maintain solid profitability and a healthy financial leverage through the cycles. These factors will offset the moderate adverse credit impact of the upcoming parent change," said Sean Hwang, a Moody's assistant vice president and analyst, in a press release.

"At the same time, the negative outlook mainly reflects a degree of execution risk relating to the integration of Intel's NAND business, as well as uncertainty over SK Hynix's ability and willingness to reduce its debt starting 2022, after it completes its acquisition of Intel's NAND business," Hwang explained.

Fitch revises Kernel view to positive

Fitch Ratings said it revised Kernel Holding SA's outlook to positive from stable.

“The outlook revision reflects Fitch's expectations that Kernel will maintain its conservative capital structure after completion of its expansion program in FY22 (ending June 2022). This, together with increasing scale, improved product diversification and a record of financial discipline, points to a strengthening credit profile,” Fitch said in a press release.

The agency said it forecasts Kernel will post a second year of record EBITDA in FY21 of around $690 million compared to FY20: $436 million as adjusted by Fitch.

Fitch also affirmed the company’s long-term foreign- and local-currency long-term issuer default ratings at BB-.

Moody's assigns B2 to Sansheng

Moody's Investors Service said it assigned a first-time B2 corporate family rating to Sansheng Holdings (Group) Co. Ltd.

"Sansheng's B2 rating reflects the company's established market presence in Fujian province, its key market," says Kelly Chen, a Moody's assistant vice president and analyst, in a press release. "The rating also considers the operational benefits from the company's diversified methods for land acquisitions, as well as its adequate liquidity."

"On the other hand, the B2 rating is constrained by Sansheng's small operating scale, high exposure to lower-tier cities, and narrow funding channels with a large exposure to trust financing," added Chen, who is also Moody's lead analyst for Sansheng.

The outlook is stable.

S&P rates Beijing Environment notes BBB

S&P said it assigned its BBB long-term issue rating to the planned dollar-denominated senior unsecured notes that Beijing Environment Sanitation Engineering Group Co. Ltd. will guarantee. Beijing Environment (BVI) International Co. Ltd., a special purpose financing vehicle of BESG, will issue the notes,” S&P said in a press release.

“We equalize the issue rating on the notes with the issuer credit rating on BESG.

The company plans to use the proceeds to repay its offshore debt, according to its green finance framework.

The outlook is stable.

Fitch gives Beijing Environment notes BBB+

Fitch Ratings said it gave Beijing Environment Sanitation Engineering Group Co., Ltd.'s planned dollar-denominated notes a BBB+. The notes will be issued by the company’s indirect wholly owned subsidiary, Beijing Environment (BVI) International Co., Ltd. The parent will guarantee the notes.

BESG will use the proceeds to refinance its $225 million of notes due next month.

Fitch rates BESG BBB+ with a stable outlook.

Fitch rates Chile social bonds A-

Fitch Ratings said it assigned an A- rating to Chile's euro-denominated notes maturing 2029 and its dollar-denominated notes due in 2071. The euro notes have a coupon of 0.555%. The dollar notes have a coupon of 3¼%.

“The bond rating is in line with Chile's long-term local-currency issuer default rating (IDR) of A-,” Fitch said in a press release.

Chile issued the bonds within its social bond framework, and proceeds will be used to fund projects that qualify as eligible social expenditures.

The outlook is stable.

Fitch rates KT21 sukuk B

Fitch Ratings said it assigned a B rating to KT21 T2 Co. Ltd.’s $350 million subordinated fixed-rate resettable sustainability tier 2 sukuk due 2031. KT21 is Kuveyt Turk Katilim Bankasi AS’ special purpose vehicle.

The certificates are rated a notch below Kuveyt Turk’s long-term foreign-currency issuer rating. Fitch said it deducted a notch for loss severity.

Fitch assigned an expected B rating on Sept. 7.

The outlook is stable.

Fitch rates Pinghu State-Owned notes BBB-

Fitch Ratings said it assigned Pinghu State-Owned Assets Holding Group Co., Ltd.'s planned U.S. dollar notes a rating of BBB-.

“The proposed notes will constitute PSAG's direct, unconditional, unsubordinated and unsecured obligations and will rank pari passu with its other unsecured and unsubordinated obligations. Hence, the notes are rated at the same level as PSAG's issuer default rating,” Fitch said in a press release.

The proceeds will be used for construction of certain projects and replenishing working capital.

The outlook is stable.

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