Moody's Upgrades Xinhua Finance's Ratings to B1
April 25 2007 - 9:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
SHANGHAI, China, April 25 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Xinhua Finance
Limited ("XFL"; TSE Mothers: 9399; OTC: XHFNY), China's premier
financial information and media service provider, today announced
that Moody's Investors Service has upgraded its corporate family
rating and senior unsecured bond rating to B1 from B2. The outlook
for both ratings is stable. Moody's said in its statement that the
upgrade was based upon the IPO of XFL's subsidiary, Xinhua Finance
Media's (XFMedia), as well as XFL's better- than-expected financial
results for the full year 2006. Moody's commented that, "The
proceeds raised from the IPO of XFMedia had strengthened the
group's liquidity. The automatic conversion of all of the
outstanding convertible preferred shares and convertible loans into
Class A common shares under XFM has also improved the group's
adjusted leverage." Xinhua Finance Media is China's leading
diversified financial and entertainment media company targeting
high net-worth individuals nationwide. The company reaches its
target audience via TV, radio, newspapers, magazines and other
distribution channels. Through its five synergistic business
groups, Advertising, Broadcast, Print, Production and Research,
XFMedia offers a total solution empowering clients at every stage
of the media process. It raised $300 million at its IPO on NASDAQ
and debuted on March 9, 2007 under the ticker XFML. XFL owns 36.9%
of the Company following the IPO. Moody's also acknowledged the
ongoing positive developments in XFL's operational performance with
FY06 operating results slightly ahead of expectations. In February,
XFL reported, under International Financial Reporting Standards
("IFRS"), 2006 full year consolidated revenue of US$175.0 million
and net income of US$18.7 million, which represented gains of 59%
and 82% respectively over those of the last fiscal year and came in
ahead of forecasts of US$166.0 million and US$18.5 million,
respectively. Xinhua Finance CEO Fredy Bush said, "We're pleased to
have received this upgrade, which represents Moody's' recognition
of our strategy for long-term profitable growth and the strides
we've made across all of our service lines, especially the
milestone in our distribution business with Xinhua Finance Media
successfully listed on NASDAQ." "We're well positioned to deliver
on our strategic plans to maintain our market leadership in our
content service, and meanwhile profit from our unique distribution
platform targeting the increasing high-net-worth demographics in
China," she added. According to Moody's, the stable outlook
reflects its expectation that XFL would execute its business plan
as planned and maintain its competitiveness in the near to medium
term. Notes to Editors About Xinhua Finance Limited Xinhua Finance
Limited is China's premier financial information and media service
provider and is listed on the Mothers board of the Tokyo Stock
Exchange (symbol: 9399) (OTC ADR: XHFNY). Bridging China's
financial markets and the world, Xinhua Finance serves financial
institutions, corporations and re-distributors through four focused
and complementary service lines: Indices, Ratings, Financial News
and Investor Relations. Founded in November 1999, the Company is
headquartered in Shanghai with 20 news bureaus and offices in 19
locations across Asia, Australia, North America and Europe. For
more information, please visit http://www.xinhuafinance.com/ . This
is a press release to the public and should not be relied on as
information to make an investment decision by any investor.
Investors should read the Company's Securities Report filed to
Tokyo Stock Exchange and consider the risk factors together with
other information contained therein when making an investment
decision. This press release contains some forward- looking
statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. A
number of factors could cause actual results, performance,
achievements of the Company or industries in which it operates to
differ materially from any future results, performance or
achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking
statements. For more information, please contact: Xinhua Finance
Hong Kong/Shanghai Ms. Joy Tsang Tel: +852-3196-3983,
+852-9486-4364, +86-21-6113-5999 Email: Japan Mr. Sun Jiong Tel:
+81-3-3221-9500 Email: Taylor Rafferty (Media/IR Contact) Japan Mr.
James Hawrylak Tel: +81-3-5444-2730 Email: United States Mr. John
Dudzinsky Tel: +1-212-889-4350 Email: Europe Faisal Kanth Tel:
+44-20-7614-2900 Email: DATASOURCE: Xinhua Finance Limited CONTACT:
Ms. Joy Tsang in Hong Kong/Shanghai, +852-3196-3983,
+852-9486-4364, +86-21-6113-5999, or , Mr. Jiong Sun in Japan,
+81-3-3221-9500, or , both of Xinhua Finance; For Media/IR Contact
in Japan, Mr. James Hawrylak, +81-3-5733-2621, or , or in United
States, Mr. John Dudzinsky, +1-212-889-4350, , or in Europe, Faisal
Kanth, +44-20-7614-2900, or , all of Taylor Rafferty for Xinhua
Finance Web site: http://www.xinhuafinance.com/
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