Fitch downgrades Yuzhou

Fitch Ratings said it downgraded Yuzhou Group Holdings Co. Ltd.'s long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating to RD (Restricted Default) from C on the completion of an exchange offer. The rating actions are according to Fitch's rating definitions.

The agency, however, affirmed the senior unsecured rating at C with an RR4 recovery rating.

Yuzhou completed the exchange of two offshore bonds due on Jan. 23 and Jan. 25 with outstanding amounts of $242 million and $340 million, respectively. The company combined the two notes due in January 2022 into $950 new notes with an interest rate of 7.8125% maturing in January 2023. Out of the $1,000 principal of the two notes, bondholders will receive $50 principal repayment in cash, $10 in cash, and $950 total principal in new notes.

The company issued CNY 453 million in new notes in exchange for $477 million of the January 2022 notes. According to the exchange announcement, Yuzhou plans to continue talks with the holders of the remaining January 2022 bonds who did not participate, and collectively hold a principal amount of $105 million, Fitch said.

Fitch rates Aqualia green bonds BBB-

Fitch Ratings said it affirmed FCC Aqualia SA's long-term issuer default rating at BBB- and assigned the company's planned €800 million of green bonds an expected senior unsecured BBB- rating. The agency also placed Aqualia's outstanding €650 million secured bond, rated at BBB, on rating watch negative following a consent solicitation to amend certain terms and conditions of the bond, including the release of the security.

The new bond will refinance Aqualia's €700 million bond, which will be called for an early redemption in March. The bond is due in June. The new bond will also finance new qualifying eligible green projects. The consent solicitation aims to align its provisions with the proposed notes' ones.

“For the outstanding €650 million bond, the watch is expected to be resolved following the completion of the consent solicitation, expected to be around three to four weeks after the launch date, and, if successful, the completion of the settlement conditions including the redemption of the 2022 notes,” Fitch said in a press release.

The outlook is stable.

Fitch rates Bank of China notes A

Fitch Ratings said it assigned an expected rating of A to Bank of China Ltd.'s planned senior unsecured green notes to be issued by its Budapest and Johannesburg branches under its $40 billion medium-term note program.

The bank, rated A by Fitch, plans to sell fixed-rate notes denominated in U.S. dollars. The notes from both branches will be issued as green bonds, with the proceeds used to finance and/or refinance eligible green projects as defined in BOC's sustainability series bonds management statement.

“Failure to comply with the relevant green-bond policies and requirements would not constitute an event of default under the terms and conditions of the notes,” Fitch said in a press release.

The outlook is stable.

DBRS assigns Brookfield notes A

DBRS said it rated Brookfield Finance Inc.’s new $400 million of senior unsecured of notes due Feb. 15, 2052, and $400 million of senior unsecured notes due Jan. 25, 2028, A(low). Brookfield Asset Management Inc., rated A (low), guarantees the notes.

The ratings are based an already-outstanding series of the above-mentioned debt instrument, DBRS said.

The trend is stable.

Moody’s rates China Development notes A1

Moody’s Investors Service said it rated China Development Bank Hong Kong Branch’s planned senior unsecured notes A1.

The branch plans to issue U.S. dollar-denominated five-year fixed-rate notes and Hong Kong dollar-denominated three-year fixed-rate notes. The notes will be sold under the bank’s $30 billion medium-term note program.

“The assigned ratings are in line with CDB's senior unsecured MTN program rating and reflect the structure of the proposed issuance,” Moody’s said in a press release.

S&P assigns Starbucks notes BBB+

S&P said it assigned its BBB+ issue-level rating to Starbucks Corp.'s planned senior unsecured notes, which it will issue in both fixed- and floating-rate tranches.

“We expect this transaction to be roughly leverage neutral because the company will use the majority of the proceeds to refinance $1 billion of existing notes maturing this fiscal year and the remainder for general corporate purposes,” the agency said in a press release.

Starbucks’ other ratings, including its BBB+ issuer credit rating and stable outlook, are unchanged, S&P said.

Moody's rates Starbucks notes Baa1

Moody's Investors Service said it rated Starbucks Corp.’s planned $1.5 billion of senior unsecured notes Baa1.

“All other ratings remain the same including its Baa1 senior unsecured ratings and P-2 short-term commercial paper rating,” the agency said in a press release.

The proceeds will be used to pre-fund future maturities and for general corporate purposes.

The outlook is stable.

Moody's gives A1 to Bank of China notes

Moody's Investors Service said it gave A1 ratings to the planned dollar-denominated two- and three-year fixed-rate senior unsecured green notes to be issued by Bank of China Ltd.’s Budapest and Johannesburg branches.

The notes will be issued under BOC's $40 billion medium term note program.

The outlook is stable.

S&P gives Aqualia, notes BBB-

S&P said it rated FCC Aqualia SA and its planned €800 million of unsecured notes BBB-.

“The municipal water concessions in Spain provide stable and predictable cash flows and support the group's credit quality Aqualia generates a large share of predictable cash flows (around 80% of EBITDA expected in 2021 and 81% in 2024) from its municipal water concessions in Spain, and a smaller share in other European markets (mainly Czech Republic, Italy, France, Portugal, and, starting from this year, Georgia),” S&P said in a press release.

Aqualia has about €900 million in upcoming bond maturities in June and July, which it plans to refinance in early February. “We see limited short-term pressure on its liquidity, given its €1.1 billion of committed back-up lines maturing in January and March 2023,” the agency said.

Also, the company plans to acquire 80% of Georgia Global Utilities' regulated water business for €153 million, which should add $167.5 million consolidated debt and annual EBITDA of about €40 million-€50 million from 2023.

The outlook is negative, which means a possible downgrade in the next 12 to 24 months if Aqualia cannot improve its financial trajectory with FFO to debt staying below 18% or debt to EBITDA above 4.5x for a prolonged period, the agency said.

S&P pares Parque Eolico Kiyu

S&P said it lowered Parque Eolico Kiyu SA’s senior secured notes to BB+ from BBB-.

S&P said it updated its base-case projections for Kiyu, incorporating a higher depreciation of the Uruguayan peso than previously expected, which will lower Kiyu’s expected cash flows. The revised forecast is a minimum debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) of 1.28x in 2036 versus the previous expectation of about 1.35x.

“The downgrade reflects our expectations of a weaker minimum DSCRs than we previously anticipated. This performance mainly results from higher depreciation of the UYU in our base case scenario, particularly in the longer-term horizon,” the agency said in a press release.

The outlook is stable.

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