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Homeplus |
[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] Amid the court's decision to commence corporate rehabilitation procedures for Homeplus, credit rating agencies have unanimously downgraded the company's credit rating from 'A3-' to 'D'.
On Tuesday, the Korea Investors Service (KIS) announced that it had downgraded Homeplus' commercial paper and short-term bond credit rating from 'A3-' to 'D', reflecting the company’s corporate rehabilitation filing on the 4th and the subsequent decision by the Seoul Bankruptcy Court to initiate the procedure. KIS also noted that the filing had disrupted the company's timely debt repayment.
With the initiation of the corporate rehabilitation process, all financial obligations are frozen, and debt repayments due during this period will be suspended until a rehabilitation plan is finalized.
Korea Ratings Corporation (KR) also downgraded Homeplus' credit rating following the court’s decision to commence the rehabilitation process.
According to KR, Homeplus' outstanding commercial paper and short-term bond issuance amount to a total of KRW 188 billion, while the balance of purchase card-backed asset-backed securities (ABS) reaches approximately KRW 400 billion.
Previously, KIS and KR had already lowered Homeplus’ credit rating from 'A3' to 'A3-' last month, but the rating was further downgraded following the latest developments.
On the morning of March 4th, the Seoul Bankruptcy Court approved Homeplus' request to initiate corporate rehabilitation proceedings. The court decided to maintain the current co-CEO system without appointing a separate administrator.
While the corporate rehabilitation process delays financial debt repayments, Homeplus stated that it would fully honor its trade payables to suppliers and continue paying employee salaries as usual.
Despite the filing, Homeplus emphasized that all of its business operations—including hypermarkets, Express stores, and online platforms—would continue as normal.
Alphabiz Reporter Kim Jisun(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
