Hyde wins Aa2 Moody's rating
Hyde HA has received an Aa2 rating from credit rating agency Moody's.
The move is a potential prelude to bond issuance, according to Ray Christopher, the group's director of tax & treasury.
He said: 'This is phase one of our capital market plans.
'We're pretty well-funded right now with lots of headroom and liquidity, but we are now able to opportunistically tap the bond markets, which we will factor into our plans.
'From a re-financing perspective, the ability to re-pay some loans would allow us to recover some collateralised properties and also look at our loan covenants, so there is all sorts of opportunity there.
'This sends a clear positive signal to our bankers to endorse their investment decision.'
Hyde does not plan to seek ratings from other agencies, Mr Christopher said, 'given the level of appetite out there, particularly for Aa-rated paper'.
The falling spreads enjoyed by recent bond issues were particularly encouraging, he added.
Gianfilippo Carboni, an associate analyst in Moody's international public finance group, said: 'The Aa2 rating reflects the group's good financial performance, its adequate cash flow, its good liquidity relative to its capital programme, its prudent and conservative management and the well-regulated environment in which English housing associations operate.'
The rating also reflects Moody's assessment of a high likelihood of support from the UK government in the event of an RSL insolvency.
