Rapid Recovery in Korean Corporate Creditworthiness
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JunHong Park Rapid Recovery In Korean Director / Lead Analyst For Korean Corporates Corporate Creditworthiness S&P Global Ratings 7 July 2021 Key Takeaways – Korea’s corporate credit quality is strengthening, leading to more positive actions compared to 2020. – COVID conditions are driving demand for various export products including semiconductors. – Other factors benefiting Korea’s corporate scene are reviving prices for oil and steel. – Aggressive spending, including in the electric vehicle space, could be an overhang for financial profiles. 2 Korean Corporate Credit Quality Recovering In 2021 – Positive rating actions outweigh negative rating actions in 2021 vs. 2019 and 2020. – Improving profitability drives upside actions on SK Hynix, LG Electronics, POSCO and S-Oil in 2021. Rating Action Trend Notable Actions On Korean Corporates In 2020-2021* # of actions Positive Negative Net Company Date To From 10 KCC Corp. Feb-2020 BB+/Stable BBB-/Negative E-Mart Feb-2020 BBB-/Negative BBB-/Stable 5 GS Caltex Mar-2020 BBB/Stable BBB+/Negative SK E&S Sep-2020 BBB-/Stable BBB/Negative 0 Apr-2020 BBB+/Watch Neg BBB+/Stable Hyundai Motor Group* -5 Sep-2020 BBB+/Negative BBB+/Watch Neg Feb-2020 BBB/Negative BBB/Stable SK Innovation -10 Nov-2020 BBB-/Negative BBB/Negative S-Oil Mar-2021 BBB/Stable BBB/Negative -15 SK Hynix Mar-2021 BBB-/Positive BBB-/Stable -20 SK Telecom Mar-2021 A-/Stable A-/Negative LG Electronics Apr-2021 BBB/Positive BBB/Stable -25 Magnachip Semiconductor Apr-2021 B+/Stable B/Positive 2016A 2017A 2018A 2019A 2020A 2021 YTD POSCO Jun-2021 BBB+/Positive BBB+/Stable Data as of July 5, 2021. *Hyundai Motor Group includes Hyundai Motor, Kia Motors, Hyundai Mobis, Hyundai Glovis and Hyundai Steel. A--Actual. YTD--Year to date. Source: S&P Global Ratings. E-Mart Jun-2021 BBB-/Watch Neg BBB-/Negative 3 Top 200 Korean Corporates’ Financial Metrics Improving – Debt/EBITDA of top 200 Korean companies started to recover in 3Q20 from its peak in 2Q20. – Improvement in financial metrics are driven more by stronger profitability than debt reduction. Top 200 Corporates Quarterly Debt To EBITDA Trend* Top 200 Corporates Quarterly Debt And EBITDA* Trend (x) KRW tril. EBITDA (LHS) Debt (RHS) KRW tril. COVID-19 Rapid 80 700 5.5 peak impact recovery 612 5.0 599 600 594 70 579 554 600 4.5 525 537 539 60 4.0 500 3.5 50 52 400 3.0 40 2.5 42 39 39 300 30 35 36 2.0 33 31 32 200 1.5 20 1.0 10 100 0.5 0.0 0 0 1Q19 2Q19 3Q19 4Q19 1Q20 2Q20 3Q20 4Q20 1Q21 1Q19 2Q19 3Q19 4Q19 1Q20 2Q20 3Q20 4Q20 1Q21 *Top 200 corporates by asset size (excluding financial institutions and unlisted government-related entities), excluding Samsung Electronics. Annualized EBITDA (sum of last four quarters’ EBITDA). Q--Quarter. KRW tril.--Trillion Korean won. LHS--Left hand side. RHS--Right hand side. Source: Capital IQ, S&P Global Ratings. 4 Strong Performance in Tech, Auto, Steel, Chemical Sectors – Technology, autos, steel, and refining/chemical sectors all show meaningful earnings growth since 3Q20. – Rapid demand recovery for various products (e.g. consumer electronics, auto) is driving strong profitability. Top 200 Corporates* Quarterly OP Trend Top 200 Corporates* Quarterly OP By Sector Auto and auto parts Electric Utilities Oil and Gas Refining KRW tril. Samsung Electronics Top 200 excl. Samsung KRW tril. Steel Technology (RHS) 45 20 40 15 35 30 10 25 5 20 15 0 10 -5 5 0 -10 1Q19 2Q19 3Q19 4Q19 1Q20 2Q20 3Q20 4Q20 1Q21 1Q19 2Q19 3Q19 4Q19 1Q20 2Q20 3Q20 4Q20 1Q21 *Top 200 corporates by asset size (excluding financial institutions and unlisted government-related entities). OP--Operating profit. KRW tril.--Trillion Korean won. Q--Quarter. RHS--Right hand side. Source: Capital IQ, S&P Global Ratings. 5 Technology: A Robust Sector Semiconductor Companies Benefit From COVID-19 – Remote access and data processing/storage drive strong memory chip demand. – Operating profit grew 30% and 85% for Samsung and Hynix in 2020, respectively, with further growth expected in 1H21. Samsung And SK Hynix’ OP And OPM Trend Semiconductor Global Demand KRW tril. Samsung OP SK Hynix OP Samsung OPM SK Hynix OPM 1Gb equivalent mil. DRAM global demand NAND global demand 14 35% 180,000 160,000 12 30% 140,000 10 25% 120,000 8 20% 100,000 6 15% 80,000 60,000 4 10% 40,000 2 5% 20,000 0 0% 1Q19 2Q19 3Q19 4Q19 1Q20 2Q20 3Q20 4Q20 1Q21 2Q21F OP--Operating profit. OPM--Operating profit margin. KRW tril.--Trillion Korean won. Q--Quarter. F--Forecast. Gb--Gigabyte. mil.--Million. DRAM-- Dynamic Random Access Memory. Source: Company data, Omdia, S&P Global Ratings 7 Favorable Operating Conditions For Memory Chip Players – Memory prices remain strong in 1H21, aiding the memory chipmakers’ earnings. – Favorable supply-demand conditions expected in 2021 given disciplined investments from major players. DRAM / NAND Price Trends DRAM / NAND Industry Capex Trend NAND TLC Flash 256Gb contract price US$/unit US$ mil. DRAM NAND DRAM DDR4 - 8Gb - 1Gx8 2133/2400 MHz- spot price 7 35,000 6 30,000 5 25,000 4 20,000 3 15,000 2 10,000 1 5,000 0 0 Jan-19 Apr-19 Jul-19 Oct-19 Jan-20 Apr-20 Jul-20 Oct-20 Jan-21 Apr-21 2018 2019 2020 2021F 2022F DRAM--Dynamic Random Access Memory. Gb--Gigabyte. mil.--Million. Source: Bloomberg, Omdia, S&P Global Ratings. 8 LG Electronics Shows Strong Profitability Amid COVID-19 – We revised LGE outlook to positive in April 2021 mainly reflecting its strong profitability. – Higher mix of premium consumer electronics is supporting LGE’s strong operating performance. LG Electronics’ Quarterly Operating Profit Breakdown By Division LG Electronics’ Premium Product Sales Portion Home Appliance & Air Solution Home Entertainment KRW bil. Home Appliance & Air Solution TV Mobile Communications Vehicle Component Solutions 55% Business Solutions Total 2,000 50% 1,500 45% 1,000 40% 500 35% 0 30% -500 25% -1,000 20% 1Q19 2Q19 3Q19 4Q19 1Q20 2Q20 3Q20 4Q20 1Q21 2017 2018 2019 2020 KRW bil.--Billion Korean won. Q--Quarter. Source: Company data, S&P Global Ratings. 9 Display Panel Makers Show Significant Profit Recovery – LGD’s operating profit turned around in 3Q20 and grew significantly on panel price rebound and growing demand. – LCD panel prices recovery continues from increasing demand for TV, PC, and monitors. LGD’s OP And OPM Trend 32” / 55” LCD ASP Trends KRW bil. OP OPM (RHS) US$/unit 32" HD 50Hz/60Hz Open Cell 55" UHD 100/120Hz Open Cell 800 15% 300 600 10% 250 400 5% 200 200 0% 150 0 -5% 100 -200 50 -400 -10% -600 -15% 0 LGD--LG display. OP--Operating profit. OPM--Operating profit margin. KRW bil.--Billion Korean won. LCD--Liquid crystal display. RHS--Right hand scale. Source: Company data, Bloomberg, S&P Global Ratings. 10 Refining & Petrochemical: Rapid Earnings Recoveries Rapid Earnings Recovery For Refining & Petrochem Companies – Significant operating losses for oil refiners in 2020 due to inventory related losses and weak spreads. – Strong earnings in 1Q21 on rebounding spreads and increase in oil prices. Korean Refineries’ OP Recovered In 1Q 2021 Korean Petrochem’s OP Also Significantly Grew In 1Q 2021 KRW bil. SK Innovation GS Caltex S-Oil KRW bil. LG Chem Hanwha Total SK Global Chemical 3,000 2,000 2,000 1,500 1,000 0 1,000 -1,000 500 -2,000 -3,000 0 -4,000 -5,000 -500 1Q18 2Q18 3Q18 4Q18 1Q19 2Q19 3Q19 4Q19 1Q20 2Q20 3Q20 4Q20 1Q21 1Q18 2Q18 3Q18 4Q18 1Q19 2Q19 3Q19 4Q19 1Q20 2Q20 3Q20 4Q20 1Q21 KRW bil.--Billion Korean won. OP--Operating profit. Q--Quarter. Source: Company data, Capital IQ, S&P Global Ratings. 12 Aggressive Investments From Refining / Chemical Companies – Korean refining/chemical players significantly expanded investments in (1) EV battery business (LG Chem & SK Innovation), (2) vertical capacity expansions, and (3) downstream acquisitions. – Negative discretionary cash flows due to large capex and shareholder returns despite recent earning recovery. Growing Investments (Capex + Acquisition) Trend Weakened Discretionary Cash Flow (OCF-Investments-Dividend) KRW bil. SK Innovation GS Caltex S-Oil LG Chem Hanwha Total KRW bil. SK Innovation GS Caltex S-Oil LG Chem Hanwha Total 14,000 8,000 6,000 12,000 4,000 10,000 2,000 8,000 0 6,000 -2,000 -4,000 4,000 -6,000 2,000 -8,000 0 -10,000 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 KRW bil.--Billion Korean won. Source: Company data, S&P Global Ratings. 13 Steel: Improving Operating Environment Strong Operating Performance Expected For Steelmakers – Korean makers have raised steel prices since 4Q20 to reflect rising raw material costs, backed by strong steel demand. – We revised POSCO’s outlook to positive in June 2021 due to expected record-high level profitability for 2021. POSCO And Hyundai Steel Quarterly Operating Profit Trend POSCO’s HRC / CRC Prices Trend KRW tril. POSCO Hyundai Steel HRC CRC 2.0 850,000 800,000 1.5 750,000 1.0 700,000 650,000 0.5 600,000 0.0 550,000 -0.5 500,000 1Q19 2Q19 3Q19 4Q19 1Q20 2Q20 3Q20 4Q20 1Q21 2Q21F 1Q19 2Q19 3Q19 4Q19 1Q20 2Q20 3Q20 4Q20 1Q21 KRW tril.--Trillion Korean won. HRC--Hot roll steel. CRC--Cold roll steel. Q--Quarter. F--Forecast. Source: Company Data, Capital IQ, S&P Global Ratings. 15 Auto: Demand Recovery Since Late 2020 Auto Industry Showing Recovery In 2021 2021 Sales Breakdown (estimate) Source: S&P Global Ratings.