Hong Kong, October 19, 2015 -- Moody's Investors Service has downgraded CTBC Financial Holding Co.,
Ltd.'s (CTBC Financial) foreign currency issuer rating to
Baa1 from A3. The rating action concludes the review for downgrade
initiated on May 14, 2015, and follows the company's
completion of its acquisition of 100% of Taiwan Life Insurance
Co Ltd (unrated).
At the same time, Moody's has affirmed CTBC Bank Co.,
Ltd.'s (CTBC Bank) long term deposit ratings at A2,
short-term deposit rating at P-1, counterparty risk
assessment at A1(cr)/P-1(cr), and its baseline credit assessment
(BCA) and adjusted BCA at baa2.
The outlook on CTBC Financial Holding is stable, and the outlook
for CTBC Bank has been revised to stable from negative.
RATINGS RATIONALE
CTBC Financial Holding Co., Ltd.
CTBC Financial has historically been a bank-centric financial holding
company, with its bank subsidiary CTBC Bank's assets accounting
for the bulk of group assets. The company has been building up
its life insurance business in recent years, acquiring the Taiwan
operations of MetLife, Inc. and Manulife Financial Corporation
in 2011 and 2013, respectively. Following the completion
of the company's acquisition of Taiwan Life, the total assets
of the company's insurance business now account for approximately
25% of group total assets, up from 12% previously.
The downgrade of CTBC Financial's issuer rating to Baa1 from A3
reflects the increased contribution from the group's insurance businesses,
which have a weaker credit profile than its banking operation.
Taiwan Life has modest capitalization with capital-to-asset
ratio of less than 5%. It also has volatile profitability
amid Taiwan's low interest rate environment, and has material
high-risk assets relative to its shareholders' equity.
CTBC Financial's expected TWD12 billion equity injection into Taiwan
Life will strengthen the latter's capitalization and support its
expected growth. CTBC Financial plans to merge its two insurance
subsidiaries in early 2016. We expect the insurance company's
assets to account for a growing share of the group's total.
As CTBC Financial's acquisition of Taiwan Life is financed 100%
by equity, the transaction does not lead to an increase in the company's
double leverage, which should remain below 110% per Moody's
calculation.
What could change the ratings -- up
CTBC Financial's issuer ratings could be upgraded if the financial
profiles of its main banking and insurance subsidiaries improve,
and the holding company maintains a modest double leverage.
What could change the ratings -- down
CTBC Financial's rating could be downgraded if: (1) CTBC Bank's
ratings are downgraded; (2) its double leverage ratio increases to
over 115% owing to debt-funded acquisitions; and/or
(3) the credit profile of its insurance company deteriorates significantly,
which could be a result of aggressive growth without the replenishment
of capital, or significant investment losses.
CTBC Bank Co., Ltd.
The affirmation of CTBC Bank's ratings and the revision of outlook
to stable reflects the bank's good performance since it acquired
Tokyo Star Bank in June 2014. The bank's asset quality has
been on an improving trend since mid-2014, with its impaired
loan ratio falling to 1.9% at end-June 2015 from
2.7% at end-2014. Meanwhile, Tokyo Star
bank's NPL ratio has fallen to 2.8% at end-June
2015 from 3.6% at end-June 2014.
Although slowing economic growth in Taiwan and declining exports will
likely lead to a moderate increase in problem loans, Moody's
does not expect CTBC's impaired loan ratios to increase materially
in the second half of 2015 and throughout 2016.
CTBC Bank's credit growth has been modest since it acquired Tokyo
Star Bank, with overall loans rising by 1% in the twelve
months to June 2015. The bank's Mainland lending exposures
have been declining due to lower demand for trade finance.
The bank's acquisition of the Mainland entity CITIC International
Bank (China) (unrated), which is due to close by the end of 2015,
will have a limited impact on the bank's profile at the outset,
with the target's total assets accounting for 2% of the bank's
total.
CTBC Bank's capitalization is satisfactory, with a common
equity tier 1 ratio of 9.1% at end-June 2015.
We expect the bank to improve its capitalization through retained earnings
in the coming year, given our expectation of its relatively modest
balance sheet growth. The bank's acquisition of CITIC Bank
International (China) will not have an adverse impact on its capitalization
as it will be financed by equity.
CTBC Bank's profitability rose modestly in the first half of 2015,
excluding one-off gains from acquisition of Tokyo Star Bank,
with return on average assets of 0.78%. Tokyo Star
Bank's weaker profitability weighs on the bank's overall profitability.
CTBC Bank's liquidity profile remains strong, reflecting current
ample liquidity conditions in Taiwan. The bank has very low reliance
on wholesale funding, and has large holdings of liquid investments
that can be used to repay fund outflows if needed.
What could change the ratings -- up
CTBC Bank's ratings could be upgraded if it successfully integrates
its acquired entities and manages its expansion prudently. The
rating could be upgraded if its tangible common equity / RWA ratio improved
to above 11%, and asset quality improves with an impaired
loan ratio falling below 1%.
What could change the ratings -- down
CTBC Bank's ratings could be downgraded if: (1) its profitability
deteriorates with net income falling below 0.5% of tangible
assets; (2) capitalization weakens, with its tangible common
equity falling below 8% of risk-weighted assets; and/or
(3) asset quality deteriorates, such that its impaired loan ratio
exceeds 3%.
RATING METHODOLOGY
The methodologies used in these ratings were Banks published in March
2015, and Global Life Insurers published in August 2014.
Please see the Credit Policy page on www.moodys.com for
a copy of these methodologies.
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.
The first name below is the lead rating analyst for this Credit Rating
and the last name below is the person primarily responsible for approving
this Credit Rating.
Sonny Hsu, CFA
Vice President - Senior Analyst
Financial Institutions Group
Moody's Investors Service Hong Kong Ltd.
24/F One Pacific Place
88 Queensway
Hong Kong
China (Hong Kong S.A.R.)
JOURNALISTS: (852) 3758 -1350
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Stephen Long
MD - Financial Institutions
Financial Institutions Group
JOURNALISTS: (852) 3758 -1350
SUBSCRIBERS: (852) 3551-3077
Releasing Office:
Moody's Investors Service Hong Kong Ltd.
24/F One Pacific Place
88 Queensway
Hong Kong
China (Hong Kong S.A.R.)
JOURNALISTS: (852) 3758 -1350
SUBSCRIBERS: (852) 3551-3077
Moody's downgrades CTBC Financial Holding to Baa1 and affirms CTBC Bank at A2