Financial Times
fastFT HNA Group Co Ltd
Swissport bonds face heavy selling pressure on worries about HNA Group
Robert Smith
7 MINUTES AGO
Swissport’s bonds sold off heavily on Monday morning as investors grew increasingly nervous about the stretched finances of the Swiss aviation services company’s Chinese parent HNA Group.
S&P last week cut Swissport’s rating one notch to B-, deeply in “junk” territory, citing the “aggressive acquisition policy, tolerance for high leverage, and contracting liquidity” at its parent company HNA. The financial health of the airlines-to-finance conglomerate came under scrutiny this year after Chinese regulators acted against private companies moving money out of China.
Both Swissport’s €364m 6.75 per cent secured bond and its riskier €265m 9.75 per cent unsecured bond fell to below face value for the first time this year on Monday. The unsecured bond is now bid at 97.25 cents on the euro, according to Tradeweb data, which equates to a yield of more than 10 per cent.
Per me sono occasioni da prendere