(Yicai) April 15 -- HNA Aviation Group, China’s fourth-largest aviation company, has secured a syndicated loan of more than CNY10 billion (USD1.5 billion) from 18 banks, its first major loan support since completing bankruptcy reorganization four years ago.

The financing highlights renewed lender confidence in the Hainan-based carrier after it resolved legacy debt problems and gradually restored its ability to generate cash. HNA’s restructuring was completed in April 2022 after Fangda Group Industrial invested CNY38 billion (USD5.6 billion) as the reorganization investor.

HNA signed the loan agreement with the 18 banks on April 13 at the sixth China International Consumer Products Expo. The lending group included two policy banks -- the Export-Import Bank of China and China Development Bank -- as well as six state-owned banks, eight national commercial banks, and two Hainan-based local banks.

The CNY10 billion syndicated loan shows the banks’ support for and confidence in HNA in terms of liquidity based on the resolution of the firm’s debt issues left over by history and the gradual restoration of its own self-sustaining capabilities, Zhang Hongqing, vice president of the owner of Hainan Airlines, said at the signing ceremony.

HNA applied for bankruptcy reorganization in 2021 after aggressive early expansion, and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 strained its finances.

Since the restructuring, the company has refocused on its core passenger and cargo air transport business and divested non-core assets. HNA earlier said it posted its first operating profit in five years in 2023.

Hainan Airlines Holding, HNA’s core listed unit, forecast in January that net profit for 2025 would be between CNY1.8 billion and CNY2.2 billion (USD264 million to USD322.7 million), compared with a net loss of CNY921 million (USD135.1 million) in 2024.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Emmi Laine