Madrid, June 16, 2016 -- Moody's Investors Service has today upgraded Siauliu Bankas,
AB's (Lithuania) deposit ratings to Ba1 from Ba2. The rating
agency has also upgraded the bank's baseline credit assessment (BCA) and
adjusted BCA to ba3 from b1; and the bank's Counterparty Risk Assessment
(CR Assessment) to Baa3(cr)/Prime-3(cr) from Ba1(cr)/Not-Prime(cr).
The outlook on the long-term deposit ratings is stable.
The bank's Not Prime short-term deposit ratings are unaffected
by today's rating action.
This rating action reflects the improvement of Siauliu Bankas' credit
fundamentals, notably in terms of capital and profitability.
A list of affected ratings can be found at the end of this press release.
RATINGS RATIONALE
---RATIONALE FOR UPGRADING THE BCA
The upgrade of Siauliu Bankas' BCA to ba3 from b1 reflects the bank's
improved credit fundamentals, notably in terms of capital and profitability.
At end-December 2015, the bank's tangible common equity
to risk-weighted assets ratio increased to 13.7%
compared to 10.4% at end-December 2014, mainly
as a result of retained profits. In terms of regulatory capital
ratios, Siauliu Bankas reported a phased-in Common Equity
Tier 1 (CET1) ratio of 12.2% at end-December 2015
compared to 9.3% a year earlier. The bank has been
reinforcing its capital buffers in order to comply with new regulatory
and prudential capital requirements.
In upgrading Siauliu Bankas' ratings, Moody's has also taken into
account the bank's improved profitability, with net profit over
tangible assets at 1.17% at end-December 2015 (0.33%
at end-December 2014).
While Siauliu Bankas' asset risk has also shown some positive developments
(non-performing loans (NPLs) declined to 9.95% of
gross loans at year-end 2015 down from 12.74% at
year-end 2014), the bank's BCA is restrained by this still
high stock of NPLs that compares unfavourably to the average of similarly
rated banks (i.e. average NPL ratio of 5% at end-December
2015 for Moody's ba3 BCA banks). When balanced against the bank's
asset risk profile, its risk-absorption capacity remains
moderate despite the mentioned improvement in capital buffers.
---RATIONALE FOR UPGRADING THE LONG-TERM DEPOSIT
RATING
The upgrade of Siauliu Bankas' long-term deposit ratings to Ba1
from Ba2 reflects: (1) The upgrade of the bank's BCA and adjusted
BCA to ba3 from b1; and (2) the result from Moody's Advanced Loss-Given
Failure (LGF) analysis which results in an unchanged two notches of uplift
for the deposit rating. Moody's assigns a low probability of government
support to Siauliu Bankas, which results in no further uplift for
the deposit rating.
---RATIONALE FOR UPGRADING THE CR ASSESSMENT
As part of today's rating action, Moody's has also upgraded the
CR Assessment of Siauliu Bankas to Baa3(cr)/Prime-3 (cr) from Ba1(cr)/Not
Prime(cr), three notches above the ba3 adjusted BCA. The
CR Assessment is driven by the banks' adjusted BCA, the low likelihood
of systemic support and by the cushion against default provided to the
senior obligations represented by the CR Assessment by junior deposits
amounting to 11% of tangible banking assets.
---RATIONALE FOR THE STABLE OUTLOOK
The outlook on Siauliu Bankas' long-term deposit rating is stable,
reflecting Moody's expectations that Lithuania's supportive economic conditions
(Moody's expects GDP to grow by 2.9% in 2016 and 3.3%
in 2017) will help to preserve current trends in the bank's credit fundamentals.
WHAT COULD CHANGE THE RATINGS UP/DOWN
Siauliu Bankas' standalone BCA could be adjusted upwards if the bank is
able to (1) reduce the stock of NPLs, with a continued decline in
provisioning costs, (2) achieve a sustainable recovery in its recurring
earnings, and/ or (3) increase further its capital buffers.
Downward pressure could develop on Siauliu Bankas' standalone BCA from
(1) an acceleration in the trend of NPL formation, both on an absolute
level and in relation to the Lithuanian banking system average; (2)
a weakening of Siauliu Bankas' internal capital generation and risk-absorption
capacity; and/or (3) any worsening in operating conditions beyond
Moody's current expectations.
As the bank's deposit rating is linked to the standalone BCA, any
change to the BCA would likely also affect this rating. Siauliu
Bankas' deposit rating could also change due to changes in the loss-given
failure faced by these instruments.
LIST OF AFFECTED RATINGS
Issuer: Siauliu Bankas, AB
..Upgrades:
....Adjusted Baseline Credit Assessment,
upgraded to ba3 from b1
....Baseline Credit Assessment, upgraded
to ba3 from b1
....Short-term Counterparty Risk Assessment,
upgraded to P-3(cr) from NP(cr)
....Long-term Counterparty Risk Assessment,
upgraded to Baa3(cr) from Ba1(cr)
....Long-term Deposit Rating,
upgraded to Ba1 from Ba2, outlook remains Stable
..Outlook Actions:
....Outlook remains Stable
PRINCIPAL METHODOLOGY
The principal methodology used in these ratings was Banks published in
January 2016. Please see the Ratings Methodologies 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 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.
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.
Maria Jose Mori
VP - Senior Credit Officer
Financial Institutions Group
Moody's Investors Service Espana, S.A.
Calle Principe de Vergara, 131, 6 Planta
Madrid 28002
Spain
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
SUBSCRIBERS: 44 20 7772 5454
Sean Marion
Managing Director
Financial Institutions Group
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
SUBSCRIBERS: 44 20 7772 5454
Releasing Office:
Moody's Investors Service Espana, S.A.
Calle Principe de Vergara, 131, 6 Planta
Madrid 28002
Spain
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
SUBSCRIBERS: 44 20 7772 5454
Moody's upgrades Siauliu Bankas' deposit rating to Ba1; outlook stable