PHOTO
26 August 2016
DOHA: Global credit rating agency Moody's has upgraded Masraf Al Rayan's long term issuer ratings to A1 from A2 and Counterparty Risk (CR) Assessment to Aa3 (CR) from A1 (CR), with stable outlook.
At the same time the baseline credit assessment (BCA) and adjusted BCA were raised to baa2 from baa3. Concurrently, the rating agency affirmed the Prime-1 short term issuer ratings and Prime-1 (CR) short term CR Assessment.
The outlook on the long-term ratings has changed to stable from positive. The upgrade of the Bank's ratings reflects its continued business diversification as a result of growth and profitability of the UK subsidiary, consistently strong asset quality performance and strong profitability and capital metrics.
These strengths remain moderated by the bank's dependence on key management relationships to generate new business, high degree of concentration on both the asset and liability side of the balance sheet, and the impact of tightening regional liquidity on MAR's funding profile.
The agency noted that the key driver of the upgrade is the bank's increasing geographical diversification following the growth and first time profitability of its subsidiary ARB UK (Al Rayan Bank UK originally Islamic Bank of Britain/IBB).
Masraf Al Rayan completed the acquisition of ARB UK in January 2014. ARB UK has since grown significantly and supports a modest but growing retail business outside the saturated Qatari domestic market. This business has increased the contribution of retail operations towards the Bank's operating income to 22 percent for the first six months of 2016 from 5 percent for the year 2011.
DOHA: Global credit rating agency Moody's has upgraded Masraf Al Rayan's long term issuer ratings to A1 from A2 and Counterparty Risk (CR) Assessment to Aa3 (CR) from A1 (CR), with stable outlook.
At the same time the baseline credit assessment (BCA) and adjusted BCA were raised to baa2 from baa3. Concurrently, the rating agency affirmed the Prime-1 short term issuer ratings and Prime-1 (CR) short term CR Assessment.
The outlook on the long-term ratings has changed to stable from positive. The upgrade of the Bank's ratings reflects its continued business diversification as a result of growth and profitability of the UK subsidiary, consistently strong asset quality performance and strong profitability and capital metrics.
These strengths remain moderated by the bank's dependence on key management relationships to generate new business, high degree of concentration on both the asset and liability side of the balance sheet, and the impact of tightening regional liquidity on MAR's funding profile.
The agency noted that the key driver of the upgrade is the bank's increasing geographical diversification following the growth and first time profitability of its subsidiary ARB UK (Al Rayan Bank UK originally Islamic Bank of Britain/IBB).
Masraf Al Rayan completed the acquisition of ARB UK in January 2014. ARB UK has since grown significantly and supports a modest but growing retail business outside the saturated Qatari domestic market. This business has increased the contribution of retail operations towards the Bank's operating income to 22 percent for the first six months of 2016 from 5 percent for the year 2011.
© The Peninsula 2016
