Moody's upgrades Hapag-Lloyd

Moody's Investors Service said it upgraded the corporate family rating of Hapag-Lloyd AG to B1 from B2, probability of default rating to B1-PD from B2-PD and senior unsecured bond ratings to B3 from Caa1.

The outlook is stable.

The upgrades reflect Hapag-Lloyd's progress in integrating UASC merger while reducing leverage and generating positive free cash flow on the back of tight cost management and increased efficiencies, the agency said.

The upgrades also consider the company's achievement of close to 90% of targeted $435 million of synergies from the merger in 2018 and the expected realization of full synergies in 2019, Moody's said.

These synergies helped to partially offset cost increases incurred by Hapag-Lloyd in the first half of 2018 on the back of sharp fuel cost increases in line with rising in oil prices, 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.