HONG KONG SAR –
Media OutReach – 18 January 2023 – At the beginning of 2023, S&P Global Ratings (“S&P”) and a number of international investment banks including Morgan Stanley and Daiwa Capital Markets have issued reports respectively, expressing their optimism on the RMB12 billion syndicated loan secured by Fosun High Technology, the domestic operating entity of Fosun International Limited (“Fosun International” or the “Company”, HKEX: 00656) to further enhance the Company’s liquidity. Morgan Stanley and Daiwa Capital Markets reiterated their “Overweight”/”Buy” rating on Fosun International.
According to S&P’s report, Fosun’s newly signed syndicate loan will largely cover onshore bonds due within a year. S&P believes that Fosun International’s total debt at the holdco level could drop by 15%-25% in 2023 as the Company continues to dispose of assets and pay down matured bonds, thereby further improving its liquidity.
S&P also noted that Fosun’s successful issuance of the RMB1 billion 180-day commercial paper backed by credit risk mitigant warrants provided by Bank of Shanghai on 13 January was Fosun’s first issuance in the onshore market after a nine-month hiatus, marking a first baby step and indicating a recovery of the public bond market access.
Market analyst pointed out that the successful issuance of the super & short-term commercial paper and the smooth completion of more than RMB10 billion syndicated loan reflect financial institutions and investors’ confidence in the stabilization of Fosun’s capital and their endorsement of Fosun’s strategy of streamlining the organization and focusing on its core businesses. Daiwa Capital Markets pointed out that Fosun has showed its commitment to repay maturing debt, the accumulated cash through ongoing asset sales and syndicated loans seems close enough to pay back the short-term debt. In fact, over the past six months or so, Fosun’s series of divestment actions in the capital market have gained widespread attention. During the period, companies under Fosun significantly reduced their shareholdings in Nanjing Iron and Steel United, Jianlong, Zhaojin Mining, Tsingtao Brewery, Jinhui Liquor, Zhongshan Public Utilities, Sanyuan, and COFCO Engineering & Technology. According to incomplete statistics, Fosun’s accumulative return of capital has reached tens of billions of yuan. In addition to this syndicated loan and the super & short-term commercial paper, Fosun’s capital has been further consolidated.
Morgan Stanley mentioned in the report that Fosun High Technology has signed a syndicated RMB12 billion loan agreement with eight banks (Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank, and Bank of Communications as joint lead banks, and China Minsheng Bank, the Export-Import Bank of China, and Shanghai Pudong Development Bank as participating banks) to further improve the Company’s liquidity, thereby significantly helping lift market confidence in Fosun’s stability. Morgan Stanley believes that after several months of proactive deleveraging efforts, Fosun’s liquidity risks have been reduced substantially. Looking ahead, China’s reopening will help with fundamentals, particularly tourist, retail, and investment businesses.
In fact, Fosun’s Happiness business has shown a strong recovery momentum. Taking Fosun Tourism Group as an example, on the New Year’s Day this year, Atlantis Sanya, FOLIDAY Town Lijiang and other businesses have all performed better than the same period before the COVID-19 epidemic, and many Club Med resorts in China recorded close to 100% occupancy. In the global market, Club Med’s bookings in the first half of 2023 have greatly exceeded the same period in 2019 before the COVID-19 epidemic.
Taking Fosun Pharma in the Health segment as another example, its anti-epidemic vaccine and drug continue to attract great attention. COMIRNATY®, including the monovalent COVID-19 mRNA vaccine (BNT162b2) and the bivalent vaccine which can protect against the Omicron variant, was officially registered as a drug/product (biological product) in Hong Kong SAR on 20 December 2022. Self-paid vaccination service for bivalent COVID-19 vaccine COMIRNATY® is officially provided in Hong Kong SAR, offering more vaccine options for people in need.
As regards Azvudine, the oral medication for COVID-19, it is now included in the medical insurance scheme in 31 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions across the country, and is available in grassroots medical institutions in many provinces. The accessibility of Azvudine has been greatly enhanced. In recent years, Fosun proposed to position itself as a global innovation-driven consumer group. In the past six months or so, Fosun has significantly accelerated its pace of focusing on its core businesses in the family-oriented consumer sector.
Based on Fosun’s solid financial performance and strong potential for rebound, domestic and overseas securities firms have recently issued research reports, assigning Fosun International an “Overweight”/”Buy” rating. On 12 January, Nomura Orient International Securities published a research report and mentioned that Fosun International currently has sufficient cash flow, the short-term liquidity problem has been resolved, the future leverage ratio is expected to be reduced, and the capital structure will continue to be optimized; at the operational level, Fosun will firmly focus on its core businesses in the family-oriented consumer sector. With the continuous optimization of China’s epidemic prevention policy, the firm expects Fosun to achieve better performance.
In addition, China International Capital Corporation (CICC) and China Industrial Securities have published research reports successively and expressed their optimism on Fosun’s strategy of streamlining the organization and focusing on its core businesses. CICC mentioned in the research report that in the medium and long term, the firm believes that the valuation method of Fosun International is expected to gradually shift from using the NAV of the group to using the PE of the large consumer company. As a result, Fosun is expected to usher in a rise in the central level of long-term valuation.
Hashtag: #Fosun
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
Services
Stakeholder mapping, analysis, engagement and communication needs to be detailed to avoid business losses or even worse, a crisis. How can you do this effectively to prevent failure? ...
Data-driven business decisions have never been as crucial, especially in this era. MGBF leverages off, technology, experience and market presence to aid businesses in making accurate decisions. ...
MGBF provides comprehensive strategic advice and results-focused solutions to solve clients' problems in business-government relations so they can focus on their core business. ...
A critical business challenge is meeting the right decision-makers and potential buyers through the best channel and platform. How will you improve your business competency? ...
Upcoming Events
In this episode of 'A Working Lunch with Nordin', MGBF's Nordin Abdullah and regional commentator Eddin Khoo will discuss the biggest threats and opportunities for businesses as we look to manage change in the South China Sea.
This MGBF Roundtable will feature thought leaders form Japan, Australia, Singapore and Malaysia dealing with the critical issues of manipulation of public listed companies and government and their financial impacts.
A series of networking sessions with various business associations and trade organisations exploring high-value opportunities for business leaders and entrepreneurs looking to build the relationships that matter.
This integrated event will include a forum, dedicated business matching, site visits, a gala dinner and a round of golf. Aptly themed, the focus will be on regional food security issues and trends in the context of the supply chain, agriculture technology and trade regulations and policies.
MGBF In The News
Planet QEOS and China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC) are interested in investing RM10 billion to co-develop advanced Megawatt peak (MWp) agrovoltaic in Baram, to further boost Sarawak’s green energy initiative and food security. Sarawak Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg was briefed on Friday by both the […]
Last week SPM results came out, 373,974 aspirants who have been waiting patiently over the last few months would now know their fate. Some 10,109 have received all A’s, the golden standard of academic success and the ticket to those looking to study the “more advanced” subjects in university. Proudly, […]
The classic knee-jerk reaction is to say, fire the coach, change the leadership of associations, and reduce the funding till they start performing better. This kind of negative reinforcement may work for kindergarten children, but we are dealing with high-performance adults – individuals much further along in their psychological and […]
Since its earliest tea plantations in 1929, Cameron Highlands has grown to become a key player in the agricultural landscape of Malaysia, producing 40 per cent of all vegetables grown. Despite Malaysia shifting its economic focus away from agriculture, the industry remains imperative for food security and the livelihoods of […]
Although at first glance the travel industry and the agricultural sector appear to have nothing in common, they actually share more than meets the eye. The economic benefits of tourism to the agricultural sector can be multiplied several times over. “Tourism brings the end consumers closer to the source, which […]
The Malaysia Global Business Forum (MGBF) recently held a high-level roundtable themed ‘Designing the Future of the Digital Economy’, attended by industry leaders and business associations. The guest of honour was Yang Berhormat Syerleena Abdul Rashid, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bukit Bendera in Penang. The MP’s Special Session […]
The Malaysia Global Business Forum (MGBF) will be hosting a roundtable on ‘Designing the Future of the Digital Economy’ on 23 February 2023. It is the culmination of the first three MGBF Exclusive Roundtable Series titled ‘The Evolving Threat Matrix in the Digital Economy’ held throughout 2022. According to the […]
The Founding Chairman of the Malaysia Global Business Forum (MGBF), Nordin Abdullah, today spoke on Bernama TV’s leading English talk show, The Brief, hosted by Jessy Chahal, on the topic of a stable political reality and what that means for the Malaysian economy. Nordin said, “The first thing that it […]
More than 1,100 years ago, Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi was developing the mathematical formulas that we know today as algorithms which now have become so intertwined with the business fortunes of global media giants and the very fabric of geopolitics. A series of recent high level international reports have revealed […]
KSK Land has been recognised by the Malaysia Global Business Forum (MGBF) for its role in attracting high net-worth individuals to Malaysia post-pandemic. The first challenge in investor attraction is “selling” the country. In the context of Asia, Malaysia is competing with some very established investment destinations. The second […]
Malaysia, in particular Kuala Lumpur, continues to position itself as a regional centre to do business, educate a family and enjoy a global lifestyle. One company, KSK Land, has taken the lead in positioning itself and the city of Kuala Lumpur as a property investment destination for the global citizen […]
The upcoming budget represents an opportunity to build resilience in the critical sectors that will form the backbone of the country’s future-facing economic ambitions. This however needs to be achieved in the context of managing the community sectors most impacted by COVID-19 over the past two years. The Keluarga Malaysia (Malaysian Family) […]
Malaysia Global Business Forum (MGBF) has moved to support the creative economy as the overall economy moves into a recovery phase following the COVID19 pandemic. As a step in the direction of normalcy, the MGBF has agreed to host the art exhibition “I Know You’re Somewhere So Far” by one […]
Congratulations to Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob for taking up the mantle of the ninth prime minister of Malaysia. There is nothing normal about the situation; it could not have been scripted but it has kept the spectrum of media, mainstream and social, gripped. The first order of business for […]
In a stirring speech to the nation, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. stamped his brand of leadership on the presidency, in his first act as the 46th president of the United State of America, it signaled several shifts. Perhaps the weather was foreboding with snow falling before the ceremony that […]
KUALA LUMPUR, 6 July 2022 – As the global economy continues to deal with unprecedented levels of disruption caused by the pandemic and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the convergence of energy security and food security issues has become a front-of-mind issue faced by policy makers and consumers alike. […]
KUALA LUMPUR, 23 June 2022 — Malaysia Global Business Forum (MGBF) ties up with scoutAsia to ensure that businesses are equipped with deeper regional insights. The past two years has seen a massive shift in the way businesses are conducted with digitisation, digitalisation and automation continuously being adopted to improve […]
KUALA LUMPUR, 25 May 2022 – The Malaysia Global Business Forum (MGBF)’s exclusive roundtable on ‘Security Concerns in Critical Value Chains’ was held in a hybrid setting yesterday at the Eastin Hotel Kuala Lumpur. The guest of honour was Yang Berbahagia Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Rafidah Aziz, former minister of […]
We live in the age of crisis. At the heart of any crisis is the threat of rapid change. Change too deep or too wide that the current coping mechanisms for an individual, corporation or government are unable to remain resilient. An unwelcome paradigm shift, like the proverbial spider, that […]