S&P lifts United Overseas Bank notes

S&P said it affirmed the AA- long-term and A-1+ short-term issuer credit ratings on United Overseas Bank Ltd.

S&P also said it affirmed the axAAA long-term and axA-1+ short-term Asean regional scale ratings on the bank.

The agency also said it raised the long-term issue ratings on the bank's Basel III compliant tier 2 notes to BBB+ from BBB and the ratings on its preference shares to BBB from BBB-.

S&P also said it raised the long-term issue ratings on the bank's Basel III compliant tier 1 notes to BBB- from BB+ and the long-term Asean regional scale rating on the notes to axA- from axBBB+.

The agency also said it affirmed the AA- long-term issue rating and cnAAA Greater China regional scale ratings on the bank’s senior unsecured debt, along with the A+ rating on the bank's legacy tier 2 instruments.

The bank’s stand-alone credit profile also was raised to A from A- following a reassessment of its business position to strong from adequate, the agency added.

The outlook is stable.

The ratings reflect an expectation that the bank will maintain its adequate capitalization, strong funding and liquidity profile and high likelihood of extraordinary government support by virtue of its high systemic importance in Singapore, S&P said.

The resilience of the bank’s financial profile is comparable to that of domestic and global peers with a stand-alone credit profile in the A category, the agency said.

The bank's profitability has been stable across economic cycles, reflecting its core commercial banking model that focuses on recurring lending revenue, S&P said.

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