S&P downgrades SriLankan Airlines bond after default

Ratings agency S&P Global on Monday cut its long-term issue rating on state-owned SriLankan Airlines’ foreign currency-denominated bond, after the airlines was unable to meet an interest payment and defaulted on a paper. “We lowered the issue ratings on the SLA 2024 bond to ‘D’ from ‘CC’ because both the issuer and government of Sri Lanka, as guarantor, missed a coupon payment of about US$6.1m,” the ratings agency said Monday. SriLankan Airlines defaulted on a $175m bond as it was unable to meet a $6m interest payment, its chairperson told Reuters on Thursday. S&P affirmed the other ratings on Sri Lanka and said that the outlook on country’s long-term local currency rating is negative. <br/>