New York, June 28, 2013 -- Moody's Investors Service has affirmed all of BAC International Bank (BAC)'s
ratings, following the 27 June announcement that its subsidiary
Credomatic International Corporation (CIC, unrated) intends to acquire
100% of Grupo Financiero Reformador (Grupo Reformador, unrated).
The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals.
Moody's affirmed BAC's D+ standalone bank financial strength
rating and standalone baa3 baseline credit assessment, as well as
the bank's Baa3/Prime-3 long- and short-term local
and foreign currency deposit ratings.
The outlook on all the ratings remains stable.
The following ratings were affirmed with a stable outlook:
Bank financial strength rating of D+
Long term local and foreign currency deposit ratings of Baa3
Short term local and foreign currency deposit ratings of Prime-3
RATINGS RATIONALE
In affirming BAC's ratings, Moody's said that the acquisition
of Grupo Reformador once completed will have a manageable impact on BAC's
financial fundamentals, given its resilient capitalization and liquidity,
and robust earnings. BAC has also raised most of the funds financing
that will support the acquisition's purchase price and is in a good
position to complete the financing under acceptable terms.
Moody's said that the acquisition of Grupo Reformador makes strategic
sense as it is designed to consolidate the bank's position in Guatemala's
growing economy and financial system with a critical mass of market share.
BAC's market share is expected to reach around 10% in loans and
deposits from about 5% and 3.5% currently.
This enhanced market share together with Reformador's customer base
of large corporations will bolster BAC's ability to compete with
the large Guatemalan banks that dominate the industry. Grupo Reformador's
main asset is Banco Reformador, a largely corporate bank with overall
market shares of about 5% and whose strategy dovetails well with
BAC's business mix and approach to banking.
Given management's strong track record in executing its regional
expansion strategy as well as its experience in the Guatemalan market,
Moody's expects BAC to be able to reposition Grupo Reformador according
to its brand and business philosophy, thereby enhancing its earnings
generation capacity. Reformador's corporate relationships
and business platform will provide BAC the opportunity to cross sell and
generate new business in the individual banking segment.
Moody's also mentioned that the acquisition will likely generate
substantial goodwill that will affect the bank's core capital.
This risk is partly mitigated by the bank's strong tier 1 capitalization
and earnings generation, that is so far adequate to absorb potentially
higher credit losses and integration costs under Moody's adverse case
scenario. The rating agency also noted that the acquisition will
likely dilute BAC's consolidated earnings, given Reformador's
low current earnings generation relative to that of BAC.
To meet the purchase price of $411 million, BAC has raised
$282 million via a securitization of credit card receivables with
a maturity of over seven years, issued by CIC in June 2013.
The remaining portion is likely to be financed by either increasing the
amount of that securitization or through new debt.
Moody's noted that it will continue to monitor developments regarding
the acquisition, including completion of the financing package and
its ultimate effects on BAC's consolidated capitalization,
earnings, and asset quality.
The principal methodology used in this rating was Global Banks Methodology
published in May 2013. Please see the Credit Policy page on www.moodys.com
for a copy of this methodology.
The last rating action on BAC was on 16 March 2011, when Moody's
assigned the bank first time ratings.
Incorporated as a holding in Panama, BAC is one of the largest local
banking groups in Central America. It is also the largest credit
card issuer and merchant acquirer in the region. As of December
2012, the bank reported total assets of US$ 10.7 billion,
receivables of US$ 7.1 billion, deposits of US$
7.3 billion, and shareholders' equity of US$ 1.2
billion. BAC's ultimate holding, BAC Credomatic, Inc.
is controlled by Colombia's Grupo Aval (Baa3).
Grupo Financiero Reformador is Guatemala's fifth largest financial
group, with assets of US$ 1.5 billion (GTQ 12 billion),
deposits of US$ 1.1 billion, equity of US$
146 million, and net earnings of $18 million as of December
2012. In addition to Banco Reformador, the group includes
a finance company and a brokerage house in Guatemala, as well as
Transcom Bank, a Barbados-based offshore bank.
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.
Jeanne Del Casino
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
Maria Celina Vansetti-Hutchins
MD - Banking
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: stable outlook on BAC's ratings following Grupo Reformador acquisition announcement