S&P rates China Tianrui senior unsecured notes 'B'

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services today assigned its 'B' issue rating to a proposed issue of U.S. dollar-denominated senior unsecured notesby China Tianrui Group Cement Co. Ltd. (B+/Stable/; cnBB/).

The agency also assigned its 'cnBB-' Greater China regional scale rating to the proposednotes.

The proposed issue is rated one notch lower than the corporate credit rating on Tianrui because of priority liabilities at its operating company in China.

S&P said the proposed issuance does not affect the rating on Tianrui. The company's financial performance in the first half of 2012 was in line with expectation, with an operating margin of about 20 per cent. S&P expects the operating margin to stay above 20 per cent in the next 12 months as large national infrastructure projects, such as the South-North Water Transfer Project, fuel demand.