Moody’s changes Hahwha view to negative

Moody's Investors Service said it changed the outlook on Hanwha TotalEnergies Petrochemical Co., Ltd. (HTP) to negative from stable and affirmed the company’s Baa1 issuer and senior unsecured rating on its $400 million of 3 7/8% notes. The issuer is a joint venture of Hanwha Total Petrochemical Co. Ltd. and TotalEnergies SE.

"The change in outlook to negative reflects an increasing uncertainty over HTP's ability to reduce debt and recover its financial leverage to a sound level amid continued challenging market conditions in the petrochemical sector," said Wan Hee Yoo, a Moody's vice president and senior credit officer, in a press release.

The agency said it forecasts HTP’s adjusted EBITDA to increase to KRW 800 billion-KRW 1 trillion annually in 2024-25 from KRW 500 billion-KRW 600 billion annually during 2022-23.

Even with the improvement, the pace of earnings recovery is slower than what was previously expected, Moody’s said, citing soft demand and persistent overcapacity. Moody's projected earnings for 2024-25 is also lower than the historical average for 2013-22.

© 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.