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| SK하이닉스 (사진=연합뉴스) |
[Alpha Biz=(Chicago) Reporter Paul Lee] Moody's, an international credit rating agency, said on the 29th that it will lower SK Hynix's credit rating outlook from "stable" to "negative."
Corporate credit ratings and senior unsecured bond ratings have maintained 'Baa2', but they can lower future ratings.
Regarding the adjustment of the rating outlook, Moody's said, "It mainly reflected growing uncertainties over whether the company's financial indicators and capital structure could recover to last year's level as loans are expected to be significantly higher than expected this year amid the unprecedented recession in the global memory semiconductor business."
Moody's expects SK Hynix's adjusted borrowings (including $2 billion in lease debt and $2 billion in secondary payments for the acquisition of Solidime) to reach KRW 33 trillion at the end of 2023, up from KRW 27 trillion at the end of 2022. As a result, the ratio of borrowing to EBITDA is expected to surge from 1.3 times last year to more than 6.0 times this year.
He also mentioned uncertainties about Chinese business in particular.
"A certain level of uncertainty related to the possibility of upgrading SK Hynix's production capacity in China was also partially reflected in the 'negative' outlook," Moody's said. "It is currently possible to introduce equipment necessary for normal operation of existing facilities in China, but such uncertainties exist."
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