State-owned bad debt manager Huarong finally broke its silence to refute numerous reports and its recent credit rating downgrade by international agencies.
Huarong vice president and board secretary Xu Yongli called the downgrades «too pessimistic» said they had «no factual basis», according to an interview with state-run «Shanghai Securities News».
Fitch, followed by Moody’s, recently downgraded Huarong’s credit rating due to insufficient indication of state support.
Lacking Understanding?
According to Xu, the rating agencies lack a comprehensive understanding of Huarong and its operating environment, reiterating that it is well-prepared to make future bond payments.
He also said that there were no indications of a change in state support nor its shareholding structure, refuting earlier reports of a potential restructuring.
Huarong is one of China’s largest overseas debt issuers with around $22.9 billion of outstanding offshore bonds including $3.7 billion due this year, according to «Bloomberg» data. It paid its recent S$600 million bond reportedly through a loan from ICBC's Singapore branch.
