Asiana Airlines is accelerating its efforts to improve its financial structure by repaying 1.1 trillion won in policy funds. On the 13th, Asiana Airlines announced that it would early repay 1.04 trillion won in borrowing funds to creditor banks (Industrial Bank of Korea and Export-Import Bank of Korea) on that day, and is expected to pay back 60 billion won in the Industrial Stabilization Fund on the 27th.
The repayment due this time consists of 680 billion won of convertible bonds held by creditor banks and 420 billion won of operating funds borrowed from the creditor group. The funding for the repayment will be sourced from the capital influx from Korean Air's paid-in capital increase.
This is the first step in significantly improving Asiana Airlines' financial structure through its merger with Korean Air. The debt ratio is also expected to decrease by more than 1,000 percentage points (P). At the end of the third quarter of this year, the consolidated debt ratio was 1,847%, but it is expected to record in the 700% range due to the capital inflow from Korean Air's paid-in capital increase and borrowing fund repayment.
The financial improvement effect of Asiana Airlines due to the paid-in capital increase is also reflected in changes in its credit rating. On the 12th, Asiana Airlines was upgraded by Korea Ratings from a corporate credit rating of BBB- to BBB0, a one-notch increase. This is the first time Asiana Airlines has received a BBB0 rating from a credit rating agency in seven years, since 2017.