Moody’s downgrades Nigerian banks

Moody's Investors Service said it downgraded the long-term local currency deposit and issuer ratings of Access Bank plc, Guaranty Trust Bank plc (GTBank), United Bank for Africa plc and Zenith Bank plc and the long-term local and foreign currency issuer ratings of Bank of Industry to B2 from B1.

The agency also downgraded the long-term foreign currency deposit ratings of Access Bank, GTBank, United Bank for Africa and Zenith, as well as those of Union Bank of Nigeria plc, First Bank of Nigeria Ltd. and Sterling Bank plc to B3 from B2.

Concurrently, Moody's downgraded the baseline credit assessments of Zenith and GTBank to b2 from b1.

Moody’s said the action follows its Nov. 7 downgrade of Nigeria's government bond ratings to B2, with a stable outlook, from B1, with a stable outlook, and reflects: (a) The government's reduced capacity to provide support to Nigerian banks in times of stress; and (b) the banks' significant holdings of government securities linking their credit profiles to that of the government.

The decision to downgrade banks' long-term foreign currency deposit ratings follows the downgrade of the relevant country ceiling for foreign currency deposits to B3 from B2.

© 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.