SEOUL, KOREA - Korean Airlines' debt-to-equity ratio has surpassed the 1,000-percent level. It was largely because the airliner has issued a vast amount of corporate bonds to purchase airplanes and handed over too much asset with too little liability when creating a Hanjin Group holding company.
According to the registration statement submitted by the airliner on June 3, the first-quarter liability and asset total after spinning off Hanjin KAL Holdings in August would be 19,020.8 billion won and 1,690.0 billion won, respectively. As a result, the company's debt-to-equity ratio came out in excess of 1,124.54 percent (1,034.76% on consolidated basis).
This is the first time Korean Airlines' debt ratio exceeding more than 1,000 percent. Last year, the company's debt ratio had been 770 percent.
Analysts commented that the company's debt-to-equity ratio is dangerously high even taking into account of the airline industry's characteristic to lease expensive aircraft. For example, Asiana Airlines' first-quarter debt ratio is 557.54 percent. Other companies with similar circumstances such as Hanjin Shipping and Hyundai Merchant Marine have lower debt ratios of 775.09 and 855.69 percent, respectively.
저작권자 © Korea IT Times 무단전재 및 재배포 금지
