Pursuits
Housing Slowdown Sees Lend Lease Swaps Surge: Australia Credit
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The cost of insuring debt of Lend Lease Group, Australia’s biggest construction company, has doubled relative to Asia-Pacific developers in the past year as the highest interest rates in the developed world take a bite out of house prices and slow construction of new homes.
Five-year credit-default swaps on Lend Lease’s bonds rose 46 basis points since May 2010 to 185 basis points, compared with an 8 basis-point rise for an index of 12 developers and construction companies in the region, CMA prices show. Moody’s Investors Service said last month it may cut the credit rating of Leighton Holdings Ltd., Australia’s largest engineering company, as poor weather delays projects and labor shortages affect the industry.