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Jan 04, 2021
R&I Credit Rating Changes for 2020
Rating and Investment Information, Inc. (R&I) has compiled a summary of credit rating changes for 2020. The summary encompasses Issuer Ratings or Insurance Claims Paying Abilities of domestic and foreign issuers. There were 36 upgrades and 10 downgrades for domestic corporations, 4 upgrades for government agencies, 2 upgrades for investment corporations, 3 upgrades and 1 downgrade for foreign corporations and 5 upgrades and 3 downgrades for sovereigns. No rating changes were made for local governments. For domestic issuers, the total number of upgrades was 42, exceeding that of downgrades (which was 10). Upgrades of domestic issuers have outnumbered downgrades for 8 consecutive years. That said, nearly 40% of the upgrades occurred in January and February. Since the novel coronavirus pandemic intensified in March, the number of upgrades has decreased. Moreover, many of the upgraded issuers were domestic demand-focused companies that are less susceptible to economic fluctuations. As regards Rating Outlooks, 16 Stable Outlooks were changed to Negative Outlooks, whereas 12 Stable Outlooks were changed to Positive Outlooks. This suggests that the pandemic has exerted growing downward pressure on ratings for issuers.
Domestic Foreign Upgrade Downgrade Upgrade Downgrade Corporations 36 10 3 1 Government Agencies 4 0 0 0 Local Governments 0 0 0 0 Sovereigns 0 0 5 3 Investment Corporations 2 0 0 0 Total 42 10 8 4
[Domestic Corporations]
■Contact : Sales and Marketing Division, Customer Service Dept. TEL. +81-(0)3-6273-7471 E-mail. [email protected] ■Media Contact : Corporate Planning Division (Public Relations) TEL. +81-(0)3-6273-7273 Rating and Investment Information, Inc. TERRACE SQUARE, 3-22 Kanda Nishikicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0054, Japan https://www.r-i.co.jp Credit ratings are R&I's opinions on an issuer's general capacity to fulfill its financial obligations and the certainty of the fulfillment of its individual obligations as promised (creditworthiness) and are not statements of fact. Further, R&I does not state its opinions about any risks other than credit risk, give advice regarding investment decisions or financial matters, or endorse the merits of any investment. R&I does not undertake any independent verification of the accuracy or other aspects of the related information when issuing a credit rating and makes no related representations or warranties. R&I is not liable in any way for any damage arising in relation to credit ratings (including amendment or withdrawal thereof). As a general rule, R&I issues a credit rating for a fee paid by the issuer. For details, please refer to https://www.r-i.co.jp/en/docs/policy/site.html. ©Rating and Investment Information, Inc.
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[Government Agencies] R&I upgraded Urban Renaissance Agency, Japan Railway Construction, Transport and Technology Agency, Development Bank of Japan Inc. and Welfare and Medical Service Agency by incorporating into the ratings their heightened importance to the government's policies in their respective areas of operations.
[Foreign Corporations] The 3 upgraded foreign corporations were all financial institutions. The upgrades of CITIC Group Corp. and Bank of China Ltd. followed the upgrade of the Foreign Currency Issuer Rating for China in December 2019. Credit Suisse Group AG was upgraded, as the Wealth Management business was strengthened and profitability became more stable. Scandinavian Airlines System was downgraded. In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, its profits and cash flow were strongly squeezed and financial leeway was lost.
[Sovereigns] R&I upgraded countries such as Malaysia, Republic of the Philippines and Republic of Indonesia by end-March. In June and afterwards, it downgraded Republic of South Africa, Republic of Tunisia and Central Bank of Tunisia, whose fiscal positions were severely affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
■Contact : Sales and Marketing Division, Customer Service Dept. TEL. +81-(0)3-6273-7471 E-mail. [email protected] ■Media Contact : Corporate Planning Division (Public Relations) TEL. +81-(0)3-6273-7273 Rating and Investment Information, Inc. TERRACE SQUARE, 3-22 Kanda Nishikicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0054, Japan https://www.r-i.co.jp Credit ratings are R&I's opinions on an issuer's general capacity to fulfill its financial obligations and the certainty of the fulfillment of its individual obligations as promised (creditworthiness) and are not statements of fact. Further, R&I does not state its opinions about any risks other than credit risk, give advice regarding investment decisions or financial matters, or endorse the merits of any investment. R&I does not undertake any independent verification of the accuracy or other aspects of the related information when issuing a credit rating and makes no related representations or warranties. R&I is not liable in any way for any damage arising in relation to credit ratings (including amendment or withdrawal thereof). As a general rule, R&I issues a credit rating for a fee paid by the issuer. For details, please refer to https://www.r-i.co.jp/en/docs/policy/site.html. ©Rating and Investment Information, Inc.
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[Investment Corporations] R&I upgraded Nomura Real Estate Master Fund, Inc., which enhanced the quality of its portfolio, and Japan Rental Housing Investments Inc. (currently Daiwa Securities Living Investment Corp.), which was expected to expand its asset size and improve asset quality due primarily to a merger.
■Contact : Sales and Marketing Division, Customer Service Dept. TEL. +81-(0)3-6273-7471 E-mail. [email protected] ■Media Contact : Corporate Planning Division (Public Relations) TEL. +81-(0)3-6273-7273 Rating and Investment Information, Inc. TERRACE SQUARE, 3-22 Kanda Nishikicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0054, Japan https://www.r-i.co.jp Credit ratings are R&I's opinions on an issuer's general capacity to fulfill its financial obligations and the certainty of the fulfillment of its individual obligations as promised (creditworthiness) and are not statements of fact. Further, R&I does not state its opinions about any risks other than credit risk, give advice regarding investment decisions or financial matters, or endorse the merits of any investment. R&I does not undertake any independent verification of the accuracy or other aspects of the related information when issuing a credit rating and makes no related representations or warranties. R&I is not liable in any way for any damage arising in relation to credit ratings (including amendment or withdrawal thereof). As a general rule, R&I issues a credit rating for a fee paid by the issuer. For details, please refer to https://www.r-i.co.jp/en/docs/policy/site.html. ©Rating and Investment Information, Inc.
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Number of Credit Rating Changes during 2020 by Industry Sector Domestic Foreign Upgrade Downgrade Upgrade Downgrade Manufacturers (Total) 15 7 0 0 Foods 1 Textiles & Apparels Pulp & Paper 1 Chemicals 1 1 Pharmaceutical 2 1 Oil & Coal Products Glass & Ceramics Products 1 Iron & Steel Nonferrous Metals 1 Metal Products Machinery 1 Electric Appliances 4 Transportation Equipment 2 2 Precision Instruments 2 Other Manufacturing 2
Non-manufacturers (Total) 11 1 0 1 Construction 1 Land Transportation 2 Marine Transportation Air Transportation 1 Information & Communication 1 Warehousing & Harbor Transportation Services 1 Wholesale Trade 2 Retail Trade 1 Real Estate 1 Services 3 Electric Power & Gas
Financial Institutions (Total) 9 2 3 0 Banks 2 3 Securities & Commodity Futures 1 1 Insurance 1 Other Financing Business 5 1
School Corporations 1 0 0 0 Government Agencies 4 0 0 0 Local Governments 0 0 0 0 Sovereigns 0 0 5 3 Investment Corporations 2 0 0 0
■Contact : Sales and Marketing Division, Customer Service Dept. TEL. +81-(0)3-6273-7471 E-mail. [email protected] ■Media Contact : Corporate Planning Division (Public Relations) TEL. +81-(0)3-6273-7273 Rating and Investment Information, Inc. TERRACE SQUARE, 3-22 Kanda Nishikicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0054, Japan https://www.r-i.co.jp Credit ratings are R&I's opinions on an issuer's general capacity to fulfill its financial obligations and the certainty of the fulfillment of its individual obligations as promised (creditworthiness) and are not statements of fact. Further, R&I does not state its opinions about any risks other than credit risk, give advice regarding investment decisions or financial matters, or endorse the merits of any investment. R&I does not undertake any independent verification of the accuracy or other aspects of the related information when issuing a credit rating and makes no related representations or warranties. R&I is not liable in any way for any damage arising in relation to credit ratings (including amendment or withdrawal thereof). As a general rule, R&I issues a credit rating for a fee paid by the issuer. For details, please refer to https://www.r-i.co.jp/en/docs/policy/site.html. ©Rating and Investment Information, Inc.
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Number of Credit Rating Changes for Domestic Issuers (Quarterly) Jan-Mar Apr-Jun Jul-Sep Oct-Dec Year Upgrade Downgrade Upgrade Downgrade Upgrade Downgrade Upgrade Downgrade 2016 7 5 6 10 4 1 14 5 2017 7 7 5 1 13 2 5 1 2018 13 3 15 1 26 0 17 3 2019 13 5 6 2 13 2 19 2 2020 18 2 5 4 7 2 12 2
Number of Credit Rating Changes for Domestic Issuers during 2016-2020 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Manufacturers Upgrade 9 11 33 16 15 Downgrade 9 8 2 5 7 Non-manufacturers Upgrade 12 7 29 11 11 Downgrade 6 2 2 1 1 Financial Institutions Upgrade 6 12 6 13 9 Downgrade 6 1 2 5 2 School Corporations Upgrade 1 0 0 0 1 Downgrade 0 0 0 0 0 Government Agencies Upgrade 0 0 1 7 4 Downgrade 0 0 0 0 0 Local Governments Upgrade 0 0 0 1 0 Downgrade 0 0 0 0 0 Investment Corporations Upgrade 3 0 2 3 2 Downgrade 0 0 1 0 0 Total Upgrade 31 30 71 51 42 Downgrade 21 11 7 11 10
Note 1: "Number of Credit Rating Changes for Domestic Issuers" is based on Issuer Ratings or Insurance Claims Paying Abilities of domestic corporations, government agencies, local governments and investment corporations. Note 2: When an issuer was upgraded or downgraded twice or more during the calculation period, all changes have been counted. Note 3: For sovereigns, credit rating changes for only Foreign Currency Issuer Ratings have been counted.
■Contact : Sales and Marketing Division, Customer Service Dept. TEL. +81-(0)3-6273-7471 E-mail. [email protected] ■Media Contact : Corporate Planning Division (Public Relations) TEL. +81-(0)3-6273-7273 Rating and Investment Information, Inc. TERRACE SQUARE, 3-22 Kanda Nishikicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0054, Japan https://www.r-i.co.jp Credit ratings are R&I's opinions on an issuer's general capacity to fulfill its financial obligations and the certainty of the fulfillment of its individual obligations as promised (creditworthiness) and are not statements of fact. Further, R&I does not state its opinions about any risks other than credit risk, give advice regarding investment decisions or financial matters, or endorse the merits of any investment. R&I does not undertake any independent verification of the accuracy or other aspects of the related information when issuing a credit rating and makes no related representations or warranties. R&I is not liable in any way for any damage arising in relation to credit ratings (including amendment or withdrawal thereof). As a general rule, R&I issues a credit rating for a fee paid by the issuer. For details, please refer to https://www.r-i.co.jp/en/docs/policy/site.html. ©Rating and Investment Information, Inc.
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List of Issuers Upgraded or Downgraded
■Contact : Sales and Marketing Division, Customer Service Dept. TEL. +81-(0)3-6273-7471 E-mail. [email protected] ■Media Contact : Corporate Planning Division (Public Relations) TEL. +81-(0)3-6273-7273 Rating and Investment Information, Inc. TERRACE SQUARE, 3-22 Kanda Nishikicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0054, Japan https://www.r-i.co.jp Credit ratings are R&I's opinions on an issuer's general capacity to fulfill its financial obligations and the certainty of the fulfillment of its individual obligations as promised (creditworthiness) and are not statements of fact. Further, R&I does not state its opinions about any risks other than credit risk, give advice regarding investment decisions or financial matters, or endorse the merits of any investment. R&I does not undertake any independent verification of the accuracy or other aspects of the related information when issuing a credit rating and makes no related representations or warranties. R&I is not liable in any way for any damage arising in relation to credit ratings (including amendment or withdrawal thereof). As a general rule, R&I issues a credit rating for a fee paid by the issuer. For details, please refer to https://www.r-i.co.jp/en/docs/policy/site.html. ©Rating and Investment Information, Inc.
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Downgrade Date Sec. Code Issuer R&I Rating From To Jan 08 - Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corp. (A+) A Mar 13 8219 Aoyama Trading Co., Ltd. A A- May 28 7242 KYB Corp. BBB+ BBB Jun 02 - Hitachi Chemical Co., Ltd. (A+) BBB+ Jun 04 7201 Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. A+ A Jun 04 - Nissan Financial Services Co., Ltd. A+ A Aug 11 5202 Nippon Sheet Glass Co., Ltd. BB+ BB Aug 25 5803 Fujikura Ltd. A A- Oct 21 8698 Monex Group, Inc. BBB BBB- Dec 22 6472 NTN Corp. A- BBB+
Downgrade Date Sec. Code Issuer R&I Rating From To Jun 19 - Scandinavian Airlines System (B+) (CCC+)
■Contact : Sales and Marketing Division, Customer Service Dept. TEL. +81-(0)3-6273-7471 E-mail. [email protected] ■Media Contact : Corporate Planning Division (Public Relations) TEL. +81-(0)3-6273-7273 Rating and Investment Information, Inc. TERRACE SQUARE, 3-22 Kanda Nishikicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0054, Japan https://www.r-i.co.jp Credit ratings are R&I's opinions on an issuer's general capacity to fulfill its financial obligations and the certainty of the fulfillment of its individual obligations as promised (creditworthiness) and are not statements of fact. Further, R&I does not state its opinions about any risks other than credit risk, give advice regarding investment decisions or financial matters, or endorse the merits of any investment. R&I does not undertake any independent verification of the accuracy or other aspects of the related information when issuing a credit rating and makes no related representations or warranties. R&I is not liable in any way for any damage arising in relation to credit ratings (including amendment or withdrawal thereof). As a general rule, R&I issues a credit rating for a fee paid by the issuer. For details, please refer to https://www.r-i.co.jp/en/docs/policy/site.html. ©Rating and Investment Information, Inc.
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Downgrade Date Sec. Code Issuer R&I Rating From To Jun 05 - Republic of South Africa BBB BBB- Jul 22 - Republic of Tunisia BB BB- Jul 22 - Central Bank of Tunisia BB BB-
* For sovereigns, credit rating changes for only Foreign Currency Issuer Ratings have been counted.
■Contact : Sales and Marketing Division, Customer Service Dept. TEL. +81-(0)3-6273-7471 E-mail. [email protected] ■Media Contact : Corporate Planning Division (Public Relations) TEL. +81-(0)3-6273-7273 Rating and Investment Information, Inc. TERRACE SQUARE, 3-22 Kanda Nishikicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0054, Japan https://www.r-i.co.jp Credit ratings are R&I's opinions on an issuer's general capacity to fulfill its financial obligations and the certainty of the fulfillment of its individual obligations as promised (creditworthiness) and are not statements of fact. Further, R&I does not state its opinions about any risks other than credit risk, give advice regarding investment decisions or financial matters, or endorse the merits of any investment. R&I does not undertake any independent verification of the accuracy or other aspects of the related information when issuing a credit rating and makes no related representations or warranties. R&I is not liable in any way for any damage arising in relation to credit ratings (including amendment or withdrawal thereof). As a general rule, R&I issues a credit rating for a fee paid by the issuer. For details, please refer to https://www.r-i.co.jp/en/docs/policy/site.html. ©Rating and Investment Information, Inc.