Outlook on Investec plc also changed to stable
London, 24 April 2014 -- Moody's Investors Service has today changed the rating outlook on
the Baa3 deposit ratings of Investec Bank plc to stable from negative.
Moody's has also affirmed the standalone bank financial strength
rating of D+ with a stable outlook, equivalent to a baa3 baseline
credit assessment (BCA). Concurrently, Moody's has
changed the outlook on Investec Bank plc's parent company,
Investec plc (Ba1), to stable. All ratings have been affirmed.
The rating action follows Investec plc's announcement on April 11,
2014 of the sale of businesses from Investec Bank plc's (IBP) business
in Australia. IBP will be selling the Professional Finance,
Asset Finance and Leasing businesses, as well as an AUD 2.7
billion deposit book, from Investec Bank (Australia) Limited (IBAL)
to Bank of Queensland Limited (A3 stable, C- stable/baa1),
comprising approximately 75% of the loan book in Australia.
The unsold Australian Investec businesses (corporate advisory, property
funds and aviation, project and resource finance) will shift their
focus to operating in a boutique advisory capacity and the remaining loan
and asset portfolio (largely corporate assets) will be repatriated to
Investec Holdings Australia Limited and transferred to either the South
African (Investec Bank Ltd., Baa1 negative, C-
stable/baa1) or United Kingdom (IBP) balance sheets as part of this restructuring.
RATINGS RATIONALE
The successful completion of the above transaction would enable Investec
Bank plc to repatriate capital back to the UK balance sheet where it is
expected to be deployed in its UK businesses. We understand that
this capital will be deployed in a manner that strengthens the bank's
balance sheet largely in significantly lower risk activities. On
a proforma basis, the repatriation of sale proceeds is expected
to improve Investec plc's common equity tier 1 (CET1) ratio by 1.5%
to 10.6%, and IBP's CET1 by 2.0%
to 13.5%.
The sale of these businesses also reduces execution risk in Investec's
Australian business, one aspect that drove the negative outlook
at the time of our affirmation of the rating in 30 September 2013.
The remaining divisions, which have been historically more volatile
than the divisions currently being sold, will shift their focus
to operating in a boutique advisory capacity with any risk exposures underwritten
by the South African or UK balance sheets.
The consideration price is for an AUD 210 million premium to tangible
net asset value (NAV) for the shares of IBAL. The transaction is
expected to close by the end of August 2014. For further detail
on the transaction, please refer to "Moody's reviews Investec
Bank (Australia) Limited for possible upgrade", 14 April 2014.
The transaction remains subject to normal regulatory approvals.
LIST OF AFFECTED RATINGS
INVESTEC BANK PLC
- Baseline credit assessment (BCA), maintained at baa3 and
the Bank Financial Strength Rating (BFSR) affirmed at D+, with
a stable outlook.
- Short-term local-currency and foreign-currency
deposit ratings; Commercial Paper foreign-currency rating
and Deposit Note foreign-currency program affirmed at Prime-3
- Long-term local-currency and foreign-currency
deposit rating affirmed at Baa3. Outlook changed to stable from
Negative outlook
- Subordinate Long-term local-currency rating affirmed
at Ba1, outlook changed to stable from negative
- Subordinate local-currency MTN program affirmed at (P)Ba1
INVESTEC PLC
- Long-term and short-term foreign-currency
issuer rating affirmed at Ba1 and Not Prime respectively
- Outlook on the Long-term foreign-currency issuer
rating changed to stable from negative
INVESTEC TIER 1 (UK) LP
- Long-term Pref. Stock Non-cumulative foreign-currency
BACKED by Investec plc affirmed at B1 (hyb), with the outlook changed
to stable from negative
INVESTEC FINANCE PLC (all ratings BACKED by Investec Bank plc)
- Senior unsecured local-currency MTN program affirmed at
(P)Baa3
- Subordinate local-currency MTN program affirmed at (P)Ba1
- Junior subordinate local-currency MTN affirmed at (P)Ba2
- Subordinate local-currency rating affirmed at Ba1,
with the outlook change to stable from negative
- Junior subordinate local-currency rating affirmed at Ba2(hyb),
with the outlook change to stable from negative
- Short-term local-currency debt rating affirmed
at (P)Prime-3
- Commercial Paper foreign-currency rating affirmed at Prime-3
The principal methodology used in these ratings was Global Banks published
in May 2013. Please see the Credit Policy page on www.moodys.com
for a copy of this methodology.
REGULATORY DISCLOSURES
For ratings issued on a program, series or category/class of debt,
this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation
to each rating of a subsequently issued bond or note of the same series
or category/class of debt 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 rating action on the support provider and in relation to each particular
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 rating action, and
whose ratings may change as a result of this 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.
Regulatory disclosures contained in this press release apply to the credit
rating and, if applicable, the related rating outlook or rating
review.
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.
Michael Charles Eberhardt
Vice President - Senior Analyst
Financial Institutions Group
Moody's Investors Service Ltd.
One Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London E14 5FA
United Kingdom
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
SUBSCRIBERS: 44 20 7772 5454
Johannes Felix Wassenberg
MD - Banking
Financial Institutions Group
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
SUBSCRIBERS: 44 20 7772 5454
Releasing Office:
Moody's Investors Service Ltd.
One Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London E14 5FA
United Kingdom
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
SUBSCRIBERS: 44 20 7772 5454
Moody's changes outlook on Investec Bank's Baa3 rating to stable, affirms ratings