Upgraded Rating

Plant of Hanhwa Chemical in Ulsan City.
Plant of Hanhwa Chemical in Ulsan City.

 

Hanwha Chemical Corp. announced on June 17 that it received an “A-“ credit rating on corporate bonds from Japan Credit Rating Agency, Ltd. (JCR). It is the highest rating won from JCR since 2008.

JCR has upgraded its rating by one notch from “BBB+” as Hanwha Chemical has increased its profits and performance due to the improvement in the petrochemical market conditions, strengthened its business portfolio and secured the dominant position in the market thanks to its successful takeover of Samsung’s two units (Hanwha General Chemical and Hanwha Total Petrochemical), properly managed its debts without the rapid increase in loans despite the large-scale M&A deals, and improved its status and profit and loss in the solar power market from the launch of the single entity of its subsidiary Hanwha Q CELLS.

Accordingly, Hanwha Chemical has set the groundwork to raise funds in the Japanese capital market. In Japan, corporate bonds are now becoming increasingly popular due to its negative interest rates. Moreover, the company can issue its corporate bonds (samurai bonds) in the country at lower interest rates than that in Korea, reducing financial expenses.

Hanwha Chemical will seek to receive its upgraded credit rating from the top three credit rating agencies in the world – Standard & Poor's (S&P), Moody's and Fitch –, which is required to enter the global capital market in the medium and long term.

 

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