CHINA – 8 October 2019 – Jiayuan International Group Limited (“Jiayuan International” or the “Group”; SEHK stock code: 02768), an established property developer of both large-scale residential and integrated commercial complex projects in China, is pleased to announce that a prestigious international credit rating agency Moody’s Investors Service (“Moody’s”) has upgraded the Group’s corporate family rating to “B2” with a stable outlook.
Moody’s says the change to Jiayuan International’s corporate family rating reflects the reduced risk of change of control in Jiayuan International after the Group’s founder and chairman Shum Tin Ching completed the sale of his property projects in Anhui province to the Group in August and reduced significantly in the last two months the amount of loans he has secured with pledged shares in Jiayuan International.
In addition, Moody’s expects that the injection of the Anhui province-based property projects into the Group will help to sustain its contracted sales growth and thus enhance its liquidity over the next 12 to 18 months. The Group’s contracted sales are expected to grow to somewhere between RMB25 billion and RMB30 billion. The injection of such property projects has also made the Group’s geographical market coverage comparable to its mainland China-based peers that also have a corporate family rating of “B2”.
Moody’s mentions that Jiayuan International’s projected credit metrics also support its “B2” rating and that the Group’s financial position will remain strong in the next 12 to 18 months. Other factors that have contributed to the upgraded rating are the good performance of the Group’s operations in Jiangsu province, which is its core market, and the high-quality land reserves that it has acquired at low costs.
Mr. Zhang Yi, Vice Chairman, President and Executive Director of Jiayuan International said, “Moody’s upgraded the Group’s corporate family rating to “B2″. This reflects the capital market’s recognition of the Group’s business performance and effort to optimize its debt structure. The Group has replenished its quality land bank and extended its business footprint to Anhui province after it has completed the acquisition of some property projects in Anhui province from its chairman in August. With the contribution from the property projects in Anhui to sales, the management of the Group is confident that the Group can fulfil its sales target for the year. In the future, the Group will continue to optimize its financial structure, capitalize on the state policies on national development, and develop property projects in such key areas as Yangtze River Delta, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area and the regions covered by China’s Belt and Road Initiative so as to maximize the returns to shareholders.”
