Ant Group's IPO delay not expected to affect Alibaba credit rating

The delay of Ant Group's $34.4 billion IPO is unlikely to affect the credit rating of its parent company, Alibaba, according to a leading global rating agency.

"We do not expect the delay in Ant's IPO to adversely affect Alibaba's credit profile," said Kelvin Ho, director of Asia-Pacific Corporates, Fitch Ratings.

Ant Group is a 33 percent-owned associated company of Alibaba.

"Alibaba's ratings are underpinned by its strong market position in China's online shopping and cloud service markets, its high profitability, robust free cash flow generation, and a highly conservative capital structure with a significant net cash position," Ho said.

Chinese financial regulators explained the action is to better protect the interests of financial consumers and investors and sustain sound capital market development in the long run. High-leverage lending and excessive debt to a broad group of individuals may threat financial stability.