Moodys

Most Asia Pacific financial institutions are not exposed to the failed US banks and are not as susceptible to large losses from debt security holdings as Silicon Valley Bank was, Moody's said on Tuesday. On March 12, US regulators closed Signature Bank, just two days after shutting Silicon Valley Bank, following mass withdrawals of customer deposits from these regional banks. Moody's Investors Service said these events are likely to result in a tightening of liquidity in debt markets globally as investors grow wary. However, the impact will be limited for most rated financial institutions in Asia-Pacific (APAC) because of structural factors. "Also, most APAC institutions are not exposed to the failed US banks, and only a handful of institutions has immaterial exposures. Finally, most institutions are not as susceptible to large losses from debt security holdings as Silicon Valley Bank was," Moody's said. The US-based rating agency said rated banks in APAC structurally have stable .

Moody's Analytics on Tuesday said India's domestic economy, rather than trade, is its primary engine of growth and the slowdown in economic activity late last year will only be temporary. The government data released last week showed India's gross domestic product (GDP) growth slowed to a three quarter low of 4.4 per cent in October-December,2022, mainly due to contraction in manufacturing and low private consumption expenditure. While the manufacturing sector contracted by 1.1 per cent, private consumption expenditure slowed to 2.1 per cent in the October-December quarter of current fiscal. In its report on emerging market outlook, Moody's Analytics said growth slowed substantially on a year-ago basis, with private consumption lagging overall GDP for the first time since the Delta wave of Covid-19 struck the economy in the second quarter of 2021. "Our take is that the slowdown late last year will be temporary and even salutary, helping to wring some of the demand-side pressures ou

Moody's Investors Service on Wednesday raised India's economic growth estimate for 2023 to 5.5 per cent from 4.8 per cent pegged earlier, on the back of a sharp increase in capital expenditure in the Budget and a resilient economic momentum. It however revised downwards India's growth estimate for 2022 to 6.8 per cent from 7 per cent pegged in November last year. In its February update to Global Macro Outlook 2023-24, Moody's raised the baseline 2023 real growth projections "meaningfully" for several G20 economies, including the US, Canada, the Euro area, India, Russia, Mexico, and Turkiye, accounting for a stronger end to 2022. "In the case of India, the upward revisions additionally incorporate the sharp increase in capital expenditure budget allocation to Rs 10 trillion (3.3 per cent of GDP) for fiscal year 2023-24, up from Rs 7.5 trillion for the fiscal year ending in March 2023," Moody's said while projecting a 70 basis points increase in 2023 real GDP growth at 5.5 per cent an

The US dollar-denominated bonds issued by entities of India's Adani Group extended gains on Friday

Debt overhang offsets country's growth potential, says rating agency

Three major oil and gas companies- Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC), IOCL and Vedanta Resources Limited together have around USD 1.9 billion of rated US dollar bonds maturing next year, rating agency Moody's Investor Services has said. Capital markets are volatile and investor appetite remains selective, so refinancing risks will remain elevated particularly for high-yield issuers such as Vedanta, which accounts for around 47 per cent of the upcoming bond maturities, it opined in a report on December 1. Vendanta's USD 400 million (coupon rate 8 per cent) and another USD 500 million (7.125 per cent) bonds would mature on April 23 and May 31 next year respectively while ONGC's USD 500 million bonds (3.75 per cent) and IOCL's USD 500 million bonds (5.75 per cent) would mature on August 1 and May 7 next year respectively, it said. The rating agency also said the weakening rupee is credit negative for Indian companies that generate revenue in the domestic currency but depen

Most of the rated Indian non-financial companies have sufficient buffers to withstand the rupee depreciation against the US dollar, said Moody's Investors Service on Tuesday.

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded the long-term deposit ratings to Caa1 from B3 of five Pakistani banks

Robust car sales during the ongoing festive season amid the easing of chip shortage will help the Indian automobile industry outshine its regional and global peers this year, Moody's Investor Service said on Thursday. Aided by favourable aspects, the car sales volumes this year in the country are expected to increase by 12.5 per cent and another 4 per cent in 2023, it stated. "India remains the bright spot for car sales this year. So far in 2022, sales are steady and we expect a stronger fourth quarter with the onset of the festive season starting at the end of September," as per a note prepared by Moody's Investor Service. A relatively stronger macroeconomic environment, the easing of semiconductor shortages as well as restocking by dealers will help India outperform its regional and global peers, it added. APAC will be the strongest of the major regions in 2022, growing by 3.5 per cent driven by growth in China and India, Moody's Investor Service said. "We forecast 2022 auto sal

Deglobalisation trends, commodity shocks, tighter finance cast a shadow on Asia's emerging markets (EM) which remain an important global growth engine, said Moody's Investors Service.

Moody's Investors Service on Wednesday said it has withdrawn the National Highways Authority of India's issuer rating and senior unsecured medium-term note program rating for business reasons. Prior to the withdrawal, the agency said the outlook on the issuer was stable. The agency said it has "withdrawn National Highways Authority of India's (NHAI) Baa3 issuer rating and (P) Baa3 senior unsecured medium-term note program rating". "Moody's has decided to withdraw the ratings for its own business reasons," it added. NHAI was constituted by an Act of Parliament -- the National Highways Authority of India Act, 1988. It is 100 per cent owned by the government. NHAI operates under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) and is responsible for the development, maintenance and management of the national highways entrusted to it.

The windfall taxes on domestic crude oil production and fuel exports will generate close to $12 bn for the govt in the remainder of the current fiscal while trimming profits of firms such as RIL

Credit rating agency Moody's Investors Service on Thursday said the outlook for global credit conditions this year has turned more negative amid slower global growth, rising borrowing costs

Moody's Investors Service on Monday said it has upgraded the JSW Steel Ltd's Corporate Family Rating (CFR) to Ba1 from Ba2. At the same time, Moody's has changed the ratings outlook on JSW Steel Ltd and Periama Holdings LLC to 'stable' from 'positive'. "The upgrade reflects JSW's continued strong operating performance and consistently strong credit metrics while maintaining good liquidity," Kaustubh Chaubal, a Moody's senior vice president said. Ba1 rating means obligations are judged to have speculative elements and are subject to substantial credit risk. Moody's has also upgraded to Ba1 from Ba2 JSW's senior unsecured notes rating, the guaranteed backed senior unsecured rating on Periama Holdings LLC and the USD 40-million guaranteed senior unsecured revenue bonds issued by Jefferson County Port Authority. In Moody's view, JSW's substantially stronger operating performance will help sustain its deleveraging. The upgrade also reflects the successful commissioning of the company

Credit rating agency Moody's Investors Service on Monday said banks in India, Saudi Arabia and South Africa would post larger increases in margins in FY23

The government has recently mandated CIL to import coal as an emergency measure to avoid a shortage of coal for the country's power utilities and build up buffer stock

India's imposition of higher export tax on iron ore and various intermediate products such as pellets will raise costs for steel mills, says Moody's

India's steel exports are expected to remain strong in the coming months as higher prices and regional demand would drive the steel companies to divert part of their output to exports

The Moody's affirmation is driven by Indiabulls' strong capital, comfortable liquidity, declining profitability and weak asset quality

A large dividend from its cash-rich India operating subsidiary has boosted billionaire Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta Resources Ltd's efforts to refinance debt, Moody's Investors Service said on Monday.