Fitch Ratings affirmed its long-term issuer default ratings on Seazen Group Ltd. and subsidiary Seazen Holdings Co. Ltd. at BB and removed the ratings from Rating Watch Negative.

The outlooks for the ratings are stable, reflecting Fitch's assessment that the companies operational and financial risks, as well as their access to liquidity, did not deteriorate significantly after their founder and former chairman, Wang Zhenhua, was held in criminal custody by the Chinese police.

Fitch said it expects the group will meet its full-year total contracted sales target of 270 billion yuan in 2019. Seazen Group's contracted sales rose by 24% year over year in the first 11 months of 2019 to 247 billion yuan, with a gross floor area of 21.9 million square meters.

The agency said the group has enough land bank for about three years of development. It reported attributable land reserves of 98.2 million square meters in the first half of 2019. Furthermore, Seazen Group's leverage is tipped to lower to about 38% due to slower land acquisition in the second half of the year. The group's recurring EBITDA is expected to rise rapidly, the agency said.

As of Dec. 16, US$1 was equivalent to 6.99 yuan.