Limassol, May 05, 2020 -- Moody's Investors Service, ("Moody's") has
today affirmed the long-term deposit and senior unsecured debt
ratings of Gulf International Bank BSC (GIB). Concurrently,
Moody's has also affirmed the bank's Baseline Credit Assessment
(BCA) and Adjusted BCA at ba2. The agency has also affirmed the
long-term Counterparty Risk Rating and Counterparty Risk Assessment
at Baa1 and Baa1(cr) respectively. At the same time, Moody's
has changed the outlook on the long-term deposit and senior unsecured
debt ratings to negative from stable.
The rating action follows Moody's decision to change the outlook to negative
from stable on the Saudi Arabian government's A1 rating on 1 May 2020.
For further information on the sovereign rating action, please refer
to Moody's press release: Moody's changes the outlook on Saudi Arabia's
rating to negative, affirms A1 rating (https://www.moodys.com/research/--PR_423521).
GIB is licensed as an offshore (wholesale) bank in Bahrain and operates
mainly in the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council although more
than 50% of its assets are in Saudi Arabia.
Please refer to the end of this press release for a list of all affected
ratings.
RATINGS RATIONALE
Moody's decision to affirm the long-term ratings of GIB and
its BCA reflects the resilience of the bank's BCA at the current
ba2 level. It also reflects Moody's assumption of a very
high likelihood of support from the Government of Saudi Arabia (A1 negative).
Moody's continues to incorporate a very high probability of government
support for GIB driven by its 97% shareholding in GIB, held
through the Public Investment Fund, and the shareholder's
track record of pre-emptive support.
GIB's standalone ba2 BCA reflects the bank's solid capital with tangible
common equity/ risk-weighted assets close to 15% as at December
2019, and sound liquidity buffers with liquid assets representing
63% of total tangible assets. These strengths are offset
by GIB's high, albeit declining, volume of nonperforming loans
(NPLs) close to 5% of total loans as at December 2019 and weak
profitability. The bank's BCA also reflects its high loan and funding
concentrations.
OUTLOOK CHANGED TO NEGATIVE
Moody's decision to change the outlook to negative from stable captures
the potential weakening capacity of the government of Saudi Arabia to
provide support in case of need, as implied by the negative outlook
on the A1 government issuer rating.
A secondary driver for the negative outlook is the potential pressure
on the operating environment in Saudi on the back of lower oil prices,
reduced government spending and spread of coronavirus which, if
prolonged, could lead Moody's to revise downwards its assessment
of the operating environment, through a lower macro profile from
its current level of moderate+. Moody's regards the coronavirus
outbreak as a social risk under its environmental, social and governance
(ESG) framework, given the substantial implications for public health
and safety.
FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OR DOWNGRADE OF THE RATINGS
Upgrade for GIB's long-term ratings is unlikely in the near
future given the negative outlook. The outlook could be stabilised
if the Saudi government's issuer rating moves back to stable.
The standalone ratings of GIB could be downgraded if the deterioration
in the operating environment leads to a weakening in the bank's
solvency.
Likewise, long-term deposit ratings also benefit from Saudi
government support uplift and could be affected negatively by a reduction
in the government's capacity to provide support as indicated by
change in the sovereign rating, or Moody's reassessment of
the level of the support.
Additionally downward pressure on GIB's long-term ratings
would develop if there was further lowering of Bahrain's offshore foreign
currency deposit ceiling, which is currently at Baa2 (one notch
below GIB's deposit).
LIST OF AFFECTED RATINGS
..Issuer: Gulf International Bank BSC
Affirmations:
....Long-term Counterparty Risk Rating,
affirmed Baa1
....Short-term Counterparty Risk Rating,
affirmed P-2
....Long-term Bank Deposits,
affirmed Baa1, outlook changed to Negative from Stable
....Short-term Bank Deposits,
affirmed P-2
....Long-term Counterparty Risk Assessment,
affirmed Baa1(cr)
....Short-term Counterparty Risk Assessment,
affirmed P-2(cr)
....Baseline Credit Assessment, affirmed
ba2
....Adjusted Baseline Credit Assessment,
affirmed ba2
....Senior Unsecured Regular Bond/Debenture,
affirmed Baa1, outlook changed to Negative from Stable
....Senior Unsecured Medium-Term Note
Program, affirmed (P)Baa1
....Subordinate Medium-Term Note Program,
affirmed (P)Baa3
Outlook Action:
....Outlook changed to Negative from Stable
PRINCIPAL METHODOLOGY
The principal methodology used in these ratings was Banks Methodology
published in November 2019 and available at https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_1147865.
Alternatively, please see the Rating Methodologies page on www.moodys.com
for a copy of this methodology.
The local market analyst for this rating is Ashraf Madani +971 (552)
244-335.
REGULATORY DISCLOSURES
For further specification of Moody's key rating assumptions and
sensitivity analysis, see the sections Methodology Assumptions and
Sensitivity to Assumptions in the disclosure form. Moody's
Rating Symbols and Definitions can be found at: https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_79004.
For ratings issued on a program, series, category/class of
debt or security this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures
in relation to each rating of a subsequently issued bond or note of the
same series, category/class of debt, security or pursuant
to a program for which the ratings are derived exclusively from existing
ratings in accordance with Moody's rating practices. For ratings
issued on a support provider, this announcement provides certain
regulatory disclosures in relation to the credit rating action on the
support provider and in relation to each particular credit rating action
for securities that derive their credit ratings from the support provider's
credit rating. For provisional ratings, this announcement
provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation to the provisional
rating assigned, and in relation to a definitive rating that may
be assigned subsequent to the final issuance of the debt, in each
case where the transaction structure and terms have not changed prior
to the assignment of the definitive rating in a manner that would have
affected the rating. For further information please see the ratings
tab on the issuer/entity page for the respective issuer on www.moodys.com.
For any affected securities or rated entities receiving direct credit
support from the primary entity(ies) of this credit rating action,
and whose ratings may change as a result of this credit rating action,
the associated regulatory disclosures will be those of the guarantor entity.
Exceptions to this approach exist for the following disclosures,
if applicable to jurisdiction: Ancillary Services, Disclosure
to rated entity, Disclosure from rated entity.
The ratings have been disclosed to the rated entity or its designated
agent(s) and issued with no amendment resulting from that disclosure.
These ratings are solicited. Please refer to Moody's Policy
for Designating and Assigning Unsolicited Credit Ratings available on
its website www.moodys.com.
Regulatory disclosures contained in this press release apply to the credit
rating and, if applicable, the related rating outlook or rating
review.
Moody's general principles for assessing environmental, social
and governance (ESG) risks in our credit analysis can be found at https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_1133569.
At least one ESG consideration was material to the credit rating action(s)
announced and described above.
Please see www.moodys.com for any updates on changes to
the lead rating analyst and to the Moody's legal entity that has issued
the rating.
Please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com
for additional regulatory disclosures for each credit rating.
Christos Theofilou, CFA
Vice President - Senior Analyst
Financial Institutions Group
Moody's Investors Service Cyprus Ltd.
Porto Bello Building
1, Siafi Street, 3042 Limassol
PO Box 53205
Limassol CY 3301
Cyprus
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
Client Service: 44 20 7772 5454
Sean Marion
MD - Financial Institutions
Financial Institutions Group
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
Client Service: 44 20 7772 5454
Releasing Office:
Moody's Investors Service Cyprus Ltd.
Porto Bello Building
1, Siafi Street, 3042 Limassol
PO Box 53205
Limassol CY 3301
Cyprus
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
Client Service: 44 20 7772 5454