Banco Popular's deposits downgraded to Ba3, Banco Santander's deposits affirmed at Baa1, FirstBank's deposits confirmed at B2
New York, May 13, 2014 -- Moody's Investors Service concluded the reviews for downgrade on certain
ratings of three Puerto Rican banks, including Popular, Inc.
(Popular), Banco Santander Puerto Rico (BSPR), and FirstBank
Puerto Rico (FirstBank). Today's actions conclude the reviews
for downgrade that were initiated on 11 February 2014. The affected
ratings are as follows:
LIST OF AFFECTED RATINGS:
Banco Popular de Puerto Rico:
- Standalone bank financial strength rating (BFSR) downgraded to
D- from D; standalone baseline credit assessment (BCA) lowered
to ba3 from ba2
- Long-term deposit ratings downgraded to Ba3 from Ba2
- Issuer and long-term OSO ratings downgraded to B1 from
Ba3
- All short-term ratings affirmed at Not Prime
- Negative outlook assigned to all long-term ratings,
including the standalone BFSR
Popular, Inc.:
- Senior unsecured MTN program rating downgraded to (P)B2 from
(P)B1
- Subordinate MTN program rating downgraded to (P)B3 from (P)B2
- Junior subordinate shelf rating downgraded to (P)Caa1 from (P)B3
- Non-cumulative preferred stock rating downgraded to Caa2
(hyb) from Caa1 (hyb)
- Negative outlook assigned to all long-term debt ratings
Popular North America, Inc.:
- Senior unsecured debt rating downgraded to B2 from B1; senior
unsecured MTN program rating downgraded to (P)B2 from (P)B1
- Subordinate MTN program rating downgraded to (P)B3 from (P)B2
- Negative outlook assigned to all long-term debt ratings
Popular Capital Trust I, Popular Capital Trust II, Popular
Capital Trust III, BanPonce Trust I, and Popular North America
Capital Trust I:
- Preferred stock ratings downgraded to Caa1 (hyb) from B3 (hyb)
- Preferred stock shelf ratings downgraded to (P)Caa1 from (P)B3
- Negative outlook assigned to all long-term debt ratings
Banco Santander Puerto Rico:
- Standalone BFSR downgraded to D from D+; standalone
BCA lowered to ba2 from ba1
- All long- and short-term supported deposit and
debt ratings affirmed (deposits at Baa1/Prime-2)
- Stable outlook assigned to all long-term ratings,
including the standalone BFSR
FirstBank Puerto Rico:
- Standalone BFSR confirmed at E+; standalone BCA unchanged
at b2
- Long-term deposit rating confirmed at B2
- Issuer and long-term OSO ratings confirmed at B3
- All short-term ratings affirmed at Not Prime
- Negative outlook assigned to all long-term ratings,
including the standalone BFSR
RATING RATIONALE
Moody's said the rating reviews focused on the potential effect
of further deterioration in Puerto Rico's weak economy and/or the
Commonwealth's (Ba2 negative) constrained fiscal condition on the
credit profiles of Popular, BSPR and FirstBank.
Puerto Rico's economy has been in recession since 2006, and
it continues to be challenged by high unemployment, low workforce
participation, high poverty levels compared to the US mainland,
a declining population, and weakness in its key pharmaceutical sector.
Accordingly, the prospects for future economic improvement are uncertain.
This economic weakness, combined with years of deficit financing,
pension underfunding and budgetary imbalance, have now put the Commonwealth
in a position where its debt and fixed costs are high and rising,
its liquidity is narrow, and its market access is constrained.
Moody's said actions to address these issues in the coming years
will likely put additional stress on Puerto Rico's already-weak
economy and the banks' asset quality, which is currently weak.
For example, the recent budget proposal for fiscal-year 2015
includes expenditure cuts that may have negative consequences for unemployment
and near-term economic growth, which increase the likelihood
of higher delinquencies by bank customers.
Popular
Moody's said the downgrade of Popular's ratings and the continued
negative rating outlook reflect the aforementioned vulnerability in the
bank's financial performance caused by further deterioration in
Puerto Rico's economy. Despite recent improvement,
Popular's still-high level of non-performing assets
could lead to greater losses if the recession continues. Popular's
ratings are underpinned by the bank's leading deposit market position
in Puerto Rico, which supports the bank's funding profile,
and its sound capital position. However, Popular's
dominant market position in the local banking system makes it more exposed
to macroeconomic shocks, which would likely affect large portions
of its retail and commercial banking portfolios. Moody's
added that Popular's direct and indirect exposure to Puerto Rico's
public sector is manageable at 29% of Tier 1 capital at first-quarter
end. This exposure consists largely of collateralized loans or
obligations that have a specific source of income or revenues, such
as taxes, identified for its repayment.
Banco Santander Puerto Rico
The downgrade of BSPR's standalone BFSR to D, which is the
equivalent of a standalone BCA of ba2, incorporates the potential
for weakening in the bank's financial performance as a result of
further deterioration in the economy. Despite the fact that BSPR's
asset quality has been consistently better than the other Puerto Rican
banks, Moody's is concerned that the bank's high level
of non-performing assets could lead to greater losses with further
deterioration in the economy. BSPR's stable outlook reflects the
bank's strong capital and funding positions, both of which have
benefited from BSPR's strategy to deleverage in recent years. These
positions better establish BSPR relative to the other banks (that each
have negative outlooks) to absorb additional stresses that could result
from continued macroeconomic weakness.
Moody's affirmed BSPR's supported deposit and debt ratings
because those ratings benefit from the bank's connection with its
US affiliate, Santander Bank, N.A. (deposits
Baa1 stable). We believe that within a US banking family,
the deposit ratings of affiliates should be equalized because of regulatory
powers afforded by the cross-indemnification provisions of the
Federal Deposit Insurance Act. Following the affirmation,
the outlook on BSPR's supported ratings is stable.
FirstBank
The confirmation of FirstBank's ratings with a negative outlook
reflects Moody's view that the bank's low ratings already
incorporate its vulnerability to continued economic weakness and to further
deterioration in Puerto Rico's economy because of the bank's
high non-performing asset levels. The ratings also reflect
FirstBank's weak profitability and its reliance on brokered deposits
for funding.
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.
The below contact information is provided for information purposes only.
Please see the ratings tab of the issuer page at www.moodys.com,
for each of the ratings covered, Moody's disclosures on the
lead analyst and the Moody's legal entity that has issued the ratings.
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.
Joseph Pucella
VP - Senior Credit Officer
Financial Institutions Group
Moody's Investors Service, Inc.
250 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10007
U.S.A.
JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376
SUBSCRIBERS: 212-553-1653
Robert Franklyn Young
MD - Financial Institutions
Financial Institutions Group
JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376
SUBSCRIBERS: 212-553-1653
Releasing Office:
Moody's Investors Service, Inc.
250 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10007
U.S.A.
JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376
SUBSCRIBERS: 212-553-1653
Moody's concludes reviews for downgrade of three Puerto Rican banks