Asiana Airlines liquidity at risk on junk rating warning
Concern about Asiana Airlines' liquidity is rising after 2 rating firms warned its debt score may be cut to junk due to a lack of transparency in its 2018 financial report. The carrier’s BBB- rating, the lowest investment-grade level, was put on negative review by both Korea Investors Service and NICE Investors Service Friday after Asiana got a “qualified” opinion for its annual report from its auditor, Samil PricewaterhouseCoopers. The problem is that most of the carrier’s asset-backed securities and some of its long-term debt include a stipulation that will force it to make an early repayment in the event its rating is cut by one level to speculative grade. At the end of last year, Asiana had about KRW1.1t (US$969m) of ABS and KRW258b of long-term debt that included the trigger, according to Mirae Asset Daewoo. <br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2019-03-26/star/asiana-airlines-liquidity-at-risk-on-junk-rating-warning
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Asiana Airlines liquidity at risk on junk rating warning
Concern about Asiana Airlines' liquidity is rising after 2 rating firms warned its debt score may be cut to junk due to a lack of transparency in its 2018 financial report. The carrier’s BBB- rating, the lowest investment-grade level, was put on negative review by both Korea Investors Service and NICE Investors Service Friday after Asiana got a “qualified” opinion for its annual report from its auditor, Samil PricewaterhouseCoopers. The problem is that most of the carrier’s asset-backed securities and some of its long-term debt include a stipulation that will force it to make an early repayment in the event its rating is cut by one level to speculative grade. At the end of last year, Asiana had about KRW1.1t (US$969m) of ABS and KRW258b of long-term debt that included the trigger, according to Mirae Asset Daewoo. <br/>
