TRIS Rating maintains CreditAlert with a “negative” implication on the outstanding partially guaranteed debentures, rated at “BB+”, issued by Group Lease PLC (GL). GL has suspended interest payments on the convertible debentures issued to J Trust Asia Pte. Ltd. (JTA), based on the legal opinion from GL’s external counsel. The interest payment suspensions have occurred after JTA filed the lawsuit at the Civil Court on 9 January 2018, nullifying the transaction of those convertible debentures.
GL has withheld two interest payments on the convertible debentures held by JTA. The first payment, worth US3.25 million, was due on 1 February 2018 while the second payment of US1.25 million was due on 20 March 2018. GL informed TRIS Rating that the company has accrued such withheld interest in the financial statement for the first quarter 2018.
GL continues to service its other debt obligations. For example, on 29 March 2018, GL made a semi-annual interest payment of approximately Bt21 million on its outstanding partially guaranteed debentures. The rating of the outstanding partially guaranteed debentures is based on the credit profiles of both the issuer (GL) and the guarantor. Sixty-five percent (65%) of the outstanding principal and interest of the debentures is guaranteed by KASIKORNBANK PLC (KBANK), rated “BBB+” (international scale) by S&P Global Ratings, with a “stable” outlook.
The “negative” alert implication reflects the uncertainties regarding the outcome of JTA’s lawsuit, and other uncertainties that might cause a further deterioration in the business position and financial position of GL.
TRIS Rating Co., Ltd./www.trisrating.com Contact: santaya@trisrating.com, Tel: 0-2098-3000/Silom Complex Building, 24th Floor, 191 Silom Road, Bangkok 10500, Thailand ? Copyright 2018, TRIS Rating Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized use, disclosure, copying, republication, further transmission, dissemination, redistribution, or storing for subsequent use for any purpose, in whole or in part, in any form or manner or by any means whatsoever, by any person, of the credit rating reports or information is prohibited, without the prior written permission of TRIS Rating Co., Ltd. The credit rating is not a statement of fact or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any debt instruments. It is an expression of opinion regarding credit risks for that instrument or particular company. The opinion expressed in the credit rating does not represent investment or other advice and should therefore not be construed as such. Any rating and information contained in any report written or published by TRIS Rating has been prepared without taking into account any recipient’s particular financial needs, circumstances, knowledge and objectives. Therefore, a recipient should assess the appropriateness of such information before making an investment decision based on this information. Information used for the rating has been obtained by TRIS Rating from the company and other sources believed to be reliable. Therefore, TRIS Rating does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy, or completeness of any such information and will accept no liability for any loss or damage arising from any inaccuracy, inadequacy or incompleteness. Also, TRIS Rating is not responsible for any errors or omissions, the result obtained from, or any actions taken in reliance upon such information. All methodologies used can be found at http://www.trisrating.com/en/rating_information/rating_criteria.html.