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Rating Action:

Moody's upgrades West Bromwich Building Society's deposit ratings to Ba3 and maintains positive outlook

17 Apr 2018

London, 17 April 2018 -- Moody's Investors Service (Moody's) today upgraded West Bromwich Building Society's (West Brom's) long-term deposit rating to Ba3 from B1 and maintained the positive outlook. In today's rating action, Moody's also upgraded West Brom's baseline credit assessment (BCA) and adjusted BCA to ba3 from b1, upgraded the Counterparty Risk Assessment (CR Assessment) to Baa3(cr)/Prime-3(cr) from Ba1(cr)/Not Prime(cr), and affirmed the short-term deposit ratings at Not Prime. Furthermore, the rating on West Brom's Permanent Interest Bearing Shares (PIBS) was affirmed at Ca(hyb) on an expected loss basis.

A list of affected ratings is provided at the end of this press release.

RATINGS RATIONALE

This rating action follows the 10 April 2018 conclusion of West Brom's liability management exercise (LME), launched on 8 March 2018. Holders of 100% of the Profit Participating Deferred Shares (PPDS) and 88.15% of the PIBS accepted the exchange and tender offer, resulting in a modernised capital structure that mainly consists of Core Capital Deferred Shares (CCDS), which are common equity Tier 1 (CET1) capital compliant under the European Union Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR), and GBP22.5 million Tier 2 notes. An aggregate nominal amount of GBP8.9 million PIBS will remain outstanding.

The upgrade of West Brom's BCA to ba3 reflects that the LME has removed uncertainty regarding the eligibility of West Brom's CET1 capital, resulting in a good capital position that Moody's expects will remain stable over the next 12 months. The Society estimates that its CET1 ratio would have remained at 14.1% if the LME had been completed on 30 September 2017, its last reporting date. The upgrade also reflects Moody's expectation that West Brom's asset quality will continue to improve as their legacy commercial lending runs off and new prime residential mortgage lending grows.

The upgrade of West Brom's long-term deposit ratings to Ba3 takes into account (i) its ba3 BCA; (ii) the results of Moody's Advanced Loss Given Failure (LGF) analysis; and (iii) a low probability of government support.

The affirmation of the Ca(hyb) PIBS rating reflects that West Brom is unlikely to pay interest to the remaining PIBS holders over the next two years and that the earliest the notes can be called is 2021.

OUTLOOK

The positive outlook reflects Moody's view that further positive developments to West Brom's intrinsic credit strength are likely over the next 12-18 months. Problem loans declined to 5.4% of gross loans at 31 March 2017 from 7.2% a year earlier, its legacy commercial exposures are declining, below GBP500 million at 30 September 2017 compared to over GBP1.5 billion in 2008, and its core owner occupied residential mortgage book is now growing, with 11% growth during the six months to 30 September 2017. In January 2018, West Brom also accessed the wholesale funding market for the first time since 2013, with a GBP350 million Residential Mortgage-Backed securitisation (RMBS). The RMBS issuance is credit positive as it demonstrates market access, although Moody's continues to view West Brom's access to the unsecured wholesale market as limited. For more details on the RMBS issuance, please see "Moody's assigns definitive credit rating to prime UK RMBS notes issued by Kenrick No. 3 plc" (accessible through the following link: https://www.moodys.com/research/Moodys-assigns-definitive-credit-rating-to-prime-UK-RMBS-notes--PR_378593).

WHAT COULD CHANGE THE RATINGS UP

West Brom's BCA could be upgraded as a result of (i) continued improvements in its asset quality metrics; (ii) strengthened capitalisation; and/or (iii) a track record of stable profitability, demonstrating a sustainable business model. A positive change in the Society's BCA would likely lead to an upgrade of its deposit ratings. West Brom's deposit ratings could also be upgraded if, after regaining access to unsecured wholesale markets, the building society were to issue significant amounts of senior unsecured debt and/or subordinated long-term debt, reducing Moody's' expected loss-given-failure for depositors.

The PIBS could be upgraded if West Brom resumes interest payments or Moody's expects the remaining holders to receive materially higher value than indicated by the current market price.

WHAT COULD CHANGE THE RATINGS DOWN

West Brom's BCA could be downgraded if the Society's asset quality or capital position deteriorates. A downward movement in the BCA of the Society would result in a downgrade to its deposit ratings. West Brom's deposit ratings could also be downgraded in response to a reduction in the volume of debt or deposits that could be bailed in, which would increase loss-given-failure for depositors.

The probability of default for West Brom's counterparty obligations may increase if the Society were to grow its balance sheet without commensurate increases in bail-in-able debt or deposits. In this event, Moody's may reflect such higher default risk with a downgrade of the CR Assessment.

LIST OF AFFECTED RATINGS

Issuer: West Bromwich Building Society

Upgrades:

....LT Bank Deposits, Upgraded to Ba3 from B1, Outlook remains Positive

....Adjusted Baseline Credit Assessment, Upgraded to ba3 from b1

....Baseline Credit Assessment, Upgraded to ba3 from b1

....LT Counterparty Risk Assessment, Upgraded to Baa3(cr) from Ba1(cr)

....ST Counterparty Risk Assessment, Upgraded to P-3(cr) from NP(cr)

Affirmations:

....ST Bank Deposits, Affirmed NP

....Pref. Stock Non-cumulative, Affirmed Ca (hyb)

Outlook Actions:

....Outlook, Remains Positive

PRINCIPAL METHODOLOGY

The principal methodology used in these ratings was Banks published in September 2017. Please see the Rating 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.

Aleksander Henskjold
Analyst
Financial Institutions Group
Moody's Investors Service Ltd.
One Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London E14 5FA
United Kingdom
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
Client Service: 44 20 7772 5454

Nicholas Hill
MD - Banking
Financial Institutions Group
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
Client Service: 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
Client Service: 44 20 7772 5454

No Related Data.
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