The debt-laden Chinese conglomerate HNA Group Co., whose airline unit scrapped a bond fundraising plan this week after financing costs soared, said it won’t default on borrowings anytime soon. Board director Zhao Quan said in an interview Friday that there would be no default in the coming year, when asked about risks in that period, without commenting on the longer-term outlook. The company doesn’t see any default risk in coming years, it said in response to a follow-up question. “Currently we have a healthy and stable debt structure,” Zhao said. “The high interest rates in December are for all companies, not just for HNA. HNA’s cash flow is stable currently.” While a bond market rout drove up funding costs for all Chinese firms recently, the acquisitive conglomerate has faced its own issues, as government scrutiny of its finances this year has made some investors wary. Chief Executive Officer Adam Tan said last week that the company is considering selling assets, suggesting it is reversing a shopping spree that cost tens of billions of dollars. Not all see an easy path ahead. One of HNA’s bonds fell 1.1 cent, the most since they were issued in November, to 97.5 cents on the dollar as of 6:10 p.m. in Hong Kong Friday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. “There is opacity around HNA’s corporate and ownership structure as well as its funding  strategies,” said Anne Zhang, executive director for fixed income, currencies and commodities at JPMorgan Private Bank in Asia. “It’s not clear which of its entities will tap the market and if there are any inter-entity fund flows. The market is certainly demanding a lot of risk premium for its opacity.” S&P Global Ratings has lowered HNA Group’s credit profile by one level to five steps below investment grade, citing its significant debt maturities over the next several years and rising finance costs. There are concerns over HNA’s ability to pay its debt obligations but the firm’s default probability in the near term is “quite low,” according to Warut Promboon, managing partner at credit research firm Bondcritic Ltd., adding that he expects Chinese lenders to support the company. “You would hope that in the longer term, in the next three to four years, the businesses that they acquired can generate them enough cash flow for them to pay off the debt.” HNA’s interest expenses more than doubled to a record 15.6 billion yuan ($2.4 billion) in the first half from a year earlier, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Its short-term debt expanded to 185.2 billion yuan, exceeding its cash-pile. “Financial flexibility is becoming increasingly challenged,” said Todd Schubert, head of fixed-income research at Bank of Singapore Ltd. HNA has used over 500 billion yuan of credit lines totaling about 800 billion yuan, and has smooth cooperation with financial institutions, according to HNA’s Zhao. Borrowing costs “will definitely decline next year,” Zhao said. “Banks are running out of credit quota toward the end of the year. They will be granted new credit quota at the start of the new year.”