[ET Net News Agency, 30 January 2020] Moody's Investors Service said in a published
report that the record-high US$53.3 billion issuance last year by high-yield companies in
Asia - versus US$23.6 billion in 2018 and US$31.6 billion in 2017 - reveals the limited
depth of sectors other than Chinese property in the Asian rated high-yield market.
"Given the surge in issuance from Chinese developers, particularly over the last three
years, trends in tenors, pricing and covenants in the Asian high-yield market have been
heavily influenced by this sector," said Annalisa Di Chiara, a Moody's Senior Vice
President.
Moody's pointed out that the five largest issuers in 2019 were all Chinese property
companies; accounting for more than one-third (US$17.7 billion) of all rated high-yield
issuance. This amount was more than the aggregated issuance of South and Southeast Asian
corporates over the last three years.
And, during 2019, Chinese developers accounted for US$40 billion of issuance across 120
deals, which was around double the amount of rated issuance (US$19.4 billion) and number
of deals (62) for the sector in 2018.
The surge in Chinese property bonds has also brought Asian covenant quality scores to
all time weakest level.
Nearly 75% of the US$77 billion of rated bonds maturing through 2022 are for Chinese
developers. Moody's explained that while maturities for South and Southeast Asian
corporates are light in 2020, some companies are likely to refinance ahead of the maturity
wall in 2022 (US$6.8 billion). (KL)