HNA hits back after S&P downgrades credit rating

Chinese conglomerate HNA Group on Thursday pushed back a report from S&P Global Ratings that cut the company’s credit assessment, saying S&P’s assessment does not fully reflect the company’s businesses.

“S&P’s credit assessment of many Chinese companies, including HNA Group, is one-sided and not objective,” the company said in a statement sent to the Global Times, adding all of its financing has been conducted in an “orderly” fashion and in line with its business needs.

In a report on Wednesday, S&P Global Ratings lowered its credit assessment of HNA to b from the previous B+. The S&P report cited concerns over HNA’s mounting debt and increasing borrowing costs.

“HNA Group has significant debt maturities over the next several years and its funding costs are meaningfully higher than that of a year ago," analysts at S&P wrote in the report.

In its statement, HNA said that the company has not encountered any debt default so far. Moreover, its financing options are accessible through many channels, it said.

According to the statement, HNA Group secured lines of credit worth 30 billion yuan ($4.54 billion) from the Agricultural Development Bank of China, one of the country's three policy lenders.

In November, the Shanxi Rural Credit Cooperatives Union provided credit of 10 billion yuan to the company, while Sanya Phoenix International Airport, a subsidiary of the group, recently issued 500 million yuan in debt.

Furthermore, the company noted that two projects led by the group and one of its subsidiaries received approval for a change in control application from the UK Financial Conduct Authority and the Central Bank of Ireland, respectively.