S&P cuts Hapag-Lloyd

Standard & Poor's said it lowered its long-term corporate credit rating on Hapag-Lloyd Holding AG to B+ from BB-.

At the same time, the agency said it lowered to B- from B the issue rating on the €480 million senior unsecured notes due 2015 and the $250 million senior unsecured notes due 2017 issued by Hapag-Lloyd AG. The recovery rating on these notes is unchanged at 6.

S&P said the downgrade reflects its expectation that Hapag-Lloyd will report weaker profitability and cash flow than initially anticipated in 2012.

This, combined with debt-funded fleet expansion, will likely lead to a further deterioration in cash flow protection measures, which S&P estimates will fall short of the levels considered commensurate with the previous BB- rating, 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.