S&P ups Citi preferreds to B+

Standard & Poor's said it affirmed the A/A-1 counterparty credit rating on Citigroup Inc. and raised its trust preferred and enhanced trust preferred issues to B+ from C and removed the ratings from CreditWatch.

"The upgrade reflects our reassessment of ongoing risks to remaining hybrid investors," S&P analyst Scott Sprinzen said in a statement.

"While we believe Citi's capitalization has been significantly bolstered as a result of the exchange, we think hybrid holders still face the risk that if, contrary to our current expectations, Citi's financial condition were to deteriorate, these issues could be subject to a dividend deferral or additional exchange offer. The C ratings on Citi's remaining preferred stock issues are affirmed, given Citi's announced intention to suspend dividends on these issues."

Ratings reflect a combination of extraordinary external support from the U.S. government for highly systemically important U.S. financial institutions and Citi's own credit characteristics, the agency said.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.