Moody’s says Korean firms’ credit is stable

Moody’s Investors Service on Monday forecast that Korean companies will maintain stable credit ratings for the coming year due to their ample liquidity despite weaker first-half earnings results.

The first-half results by Moody’s for 26 rated Korean companies are mostly either credit negative or credit neutral, but most are likely to maintain stable credit quality over the next 12 months, the global credit ratings firm said in a report.

“With these companies, which include 23 private-sector companies and three listed government-related issuers, six reported credit-positive results, nine credit-neutral results and 11 credit-negative results, and for this last group, their financial buffers have declined from last year,” Moody’s Vice President and Senior Credit Officer Yoo Wan-hee said in the report.

In the past 12 months, refining, chemical and technology companies announced sizable new investment plans, with some of them having implemented more aggressive shareholder return activities, Yoo said.

“That said, these moves will not have an immediate impact on their credit quality, given the significant financial buffers these companies have accumulated over the last few years,” he said.

Yonhap