SINGAPORE (Mar 12): Moody's Investors Service is maintaining Jardine Strategic's A1 rating and stable rating outlook.
This comes after Jardine Matheson and Jardine Strategic, co-holding companies of the Jardine Group, reported solid results for FY17.
See: Jardine Strategic and Jardine Matheson report 50% higher FY17 earnings
"We expect Jardine Group's overall profitability and leverage will remain stable in FY18, underpinned by its well-diversified portfolio of property, retail, automotive, financial services, agricultural and industrial businesses across Asia," says Gloria Tsuen, a Moody's Vice President and Senior Analyst.
Jardine Strategic's total revenue, including 100% of revenue from associates and joint ventures, grew 16% in 2017 compared with a year earlier.
Reported underlying profit, excluding non-trading items but including Jardine Group's share of results in joint ventures and associates, rose 13% to $1.6 billion.
Funds from operations (FFO)/net debt, after Moody's standard adjustments and excluding debt from financial services, declined to 72% in FY17 from 79% a year ago.
Meanwhile, adjusted FFO interest coverage rose modestly to 13.6 times from 13.1 times. These levels support JSH's A1 rating, says the ratings agency.
Jardine Group, founded in 1832, has a broad portfolio of businesses across a number of Asian countries. It has a significant presence in engineering and construction, transport services, insurance broking, property investment and development, food retailing, home furnishings, restaurants, luxury hotels, motor vehicles and related operations, financial services, heavy equipment, mining, and agribusiness.
As ar 2.47pm, shares in Jardine Strategic are up 75 cents at US$40.17.
