Moody's changes outlook on Lebanese banks' ratings to stable from negative |
|
Share With Members!
Limassol, March 27, 2008 -- Moody's Investors Service has today changed the outlook on the B3/Not Prime foreign currency (FC) deposit ratings of the four rated Lebanese banks (Bank AudiBank Audi
, BLOM BankBLOM Bank, Byblos BankByblos Bank and Bank of BeirutBank of Beirut) to stable from negative. The outlook on Byblos BankByblos Bank's B2 FC senior and subordinated debt ratings was also changed to stable from negative. All other ratings of these banks remain unaffected by this rating action.
The change in the outlooks was triggered by the recent rating action taken by Moody's Sovereign Risk Unit that changed the outlook on both the FC deposit ceiling and the FC debt ceiling of Lebanon to stable from negative. "Lebanese banks continue to be heavily exposed to the sovereign, although to a lower degree than in the past. However, their deposit and debt ratings have been constrained by the respective country ceilings, and as a result any sovereign rating action has an impact on the bank ratings as well," explains Nondas Nicolaides, Assistant Vice President -- Analyst for Lebanese banks.
The rated Lebanese banks continue to perform well with a growing deposit base enabling them to invest in the highly profitable Lebanese government securities, although this also raises their risk profiles considering the low ratings of Lebanon. Any improvements in the currently fragile political situation in the country that could have a positive impact on Lebanon's ratings would also prove beneficial for the banks' ratings.
Furthermore, banks with significant franchises outside Lebanon and with an increasingly higher level of earnings from their international operations, are likely to benefit more from any future improvement in Lebanon's ratings and may also see positive pressure on their standalone ratings. For the time being, however, the still heavy earnings reliance on low rated (B3) Lebanese sovereign debt and their overall sovereign exposure relative to their equity constrains any rating upgrades, Moody's concludes.
Bank AudiBank Audi is headquartered in Beirut and had total assets of LBP26,001 billion (US$17.2 billion) at the end of December 2007.
BLOM BankBLOM Bank is headquartered in Beirut and had total assets of LBP25,073 billion (US$16.6 billion) at the end of December 2007.
Byblos BankByblos Bank is headquartered in Beirut and had total assets of LBP14,320 billion (US$9.5 billion) at the end of December 2007.
Bank of BeirutBank of Beirut is headquartered in Beirut and had total assets of LBP7,952 billion (US$5.3 billion) at the end of December 2007.
-Ends-
Limassol
Mardig Haladjian
General Manager
Financial Institutions Group
Moody's Investors Service Cyprus Limited
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
SUBSCRIBERS: 44 20 7772 5454
Limassol
Nondas Nicolaides
Asst Vice President - Analyst
Financial Institutions Group
Moody's Investors Service Cyprus Limited
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
SUBSCRIBERS: 44 20 7772 5454
Copyright 2008, Moody's Investors Service, Inc. and/or its licensors and affiliates including Moody's Assurance Company, Inc. (together, "MOODY'S"). All rights reserved.
© Press Release 2008
Zawya is a distributor (and not a publisher) of content supplied by third parties and subscribers. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers, or other information or content expressed or made available by those third parties, including information providers, subscribers or other users of the Service, are those of the respective author(s) or distributor(s) and not of the Company. The Company neither endorses nor is responsible for the accuracy or reliability of any opinion, advice or statement made on the Service by anyone other than authorized Service employee spokespersons while acting in their official capacities. The Company is not responsible for any infringement of intellectual property rights or breach of any applicable law or regulation, including regulation in relation to financial services or the distribution of financial products, defamation, data protection, telecommunications (including regulations relating to excessive use, spamming or other abusive activities) or obscene, offensive or illegal content). Under no circumstances will the Company be liable for any loss or damage caused by a member's reliance on information obtained through the Service. It is the responsibility of member to evaluate the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any information, opinion, advice or other content available through the Service. Please seek the advice of professionals, as appropriate, regarding the evaluation of any specific information, opinion, advice or other content.
Read the full Member Agreement
http://www.zawya.com/legal/NewsLetter.cfm?name=disclaimer
Comment on this article 
Loading ...-
Zawya encourages you to add a comment to this discussion. You agree that when you add content to this discussion your comments will not:
1.1 Contain any material which is libelous or defamatory of any person, is obscene, offensive, hateful or inflammatory or causes damage to the reputation of any person or organisation.
1.2 Promote sexually explicit material, violence, discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age or any illegal activity.
1.3 Be made in breach of any legal duty owed to a third party, such as a contractual duty or a duty of confidence.
1.4 Be threatening, abuse or invade another's privacy, or cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety.
1.5 Be used to impersonate any person, to misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person, or be likely to deceive any person.
1.6 Give the impression that they represent Zawya.
1.7 Advocate, promote or assist any unlawful act such as (by way of example only) copyright infringement or computer misuse. - The content posted on www.zawya.com is created by members of the public. The views expressed are theirs and unless specifically stated are not those of Zawya. Zawya reserves the right to review all comments prior to posting and edit or delete any contribution, but Zawya is not responsible for and can not be held liable for any content posted by members of the public on www.zawya.com.
- Zawya is not responsible for the availability or content of any third party sites that are accessible through www.zawya.com. Any links to third party websites from www.zawya.com do not amount to any endorsement of that site by Zawya and any use of that site by you is at your own risk.
- By submitting your comment, you hereby give Zawya the right, but not the obligation, to post, air, edit, exhibit, telecast, webcast, re-use, publish, reproduce, use, license, print, distribute or otherwise use your comments worldwide, in perpetuity.
Loading ...Stories
Companies
| Company Name | Country | Industry |
| Consolidated Contractors Company | Overseas | Construction and Design |
| Zuhair Fayez Partnership Consultants | Saudi Arabia | Construction and Design |
| Saudi Binladin Group | Saudi Arabia | Construction and Design |
| Saudi Electricity Company | Saudi Arabia | Electric Utilities |
| Barwa Real Estate Company | Qatar | Landlords and Developers |
| Roads and Transport Authority - Dubai | UAE | Regulatory and Administrative Bodies |
| Mubadala Development Company | UAE | Investment Firms and Funds |
| Ministry of Health - Saudi Arabia | Saudi Arabia | Ministries and Municipalities |
| Abu Dhabi Oil Refining Company | UAE | Oil |
| Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation | Qatar | Electric Utilities |
Projects
| Project Name | Country | Sector |
| ENEC - Nuclear Power Plant | UAE | Power and Water |
| Abu Dhabi DOT - Abu Dhabi Metro | UAE | Infrastructure |
| Takreer - Ruwais Refinery Expansion | UAE | Oil and Gas |
| Abu Dhabi Ports Company - Khalifa Port and Industrial Zone (KPIZ) | UAE | Infrastructure |
| Aramco/Dow Chemical - Ras Tanura Integrated Refinery and Petrochemicals Complex | Saudi Arabia | Oil and Gas |
| SATORP - Jubail Refinery and Petrochemical Complex | Saudi Arabia | Oil and Gas |
| Emirates Aluminium (EMAL) - Smelter Complex - Phase 1 | UAE | Industry |
| Dubai Racing Club - Meydan City - Meydan Racecourse | UAE | Real Estate |
| Dubai RTA - Dubai Metro | UAE | Infrastructure |
| IGD - Gasco - Habshan 5 Gas Processing Plant | UAE | Oil and Gas |