Fitch raises national ratings for several Ukrainian banks
MOSCOW. Oct 29 (Interfax) - The international ratings agency Fitch Ratings has raised the long-term national ratings for the Ukrainian banks PrivatBank, Oschadbank, Ukrgasbank and ProCredit Bank (controlled by ProCredit Holding) from AA(ukr) to AA+(ukr), for the private bank FUIB from AA-(ukr) to "AA+(ukr), and for the nationalized Sense Bank from AA-(ukr) to AA(ukr).
"The actions follow Fitch's recalibration of Ukraine's National Rating Scale, which itself follows the recent upgrade of Ukraine's Long-Term Local-Currency (LTLC) Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to 'CCC+' from 'CCC-'", Ukrainian media cited the agency as saying on its website.
Ukreximbank's National Long-Term Rating was set at AA(ukr).
The outlooks are stable, Fitch said.
"The revisions of the National Long-Term Ratings of Privat, Oschadbank, Ukrgasbank, PCBU, and Sense reflect changes in the National Rating Scale driven solely by the recalibration of the National Ratings correspondence table rather than changes in credit quality", Fitch said. "The upgrade of FUIB's National Long-Term Rating reflects its improved relativities, despite its modest domestic franchise, evidenced by its strengthened capitalisation and high profitability," it said.
"The affirmation of Ukreximbank's National Long-Term Rating reflects its weakened relativities stemming from its lower capitalization, notwithstanding the recent improvement in capital ratios, despite the bank's strong domestic franchise," it said.
"The banks' National Long-Term Ratings (other than PCBU) are driven by their intrinsic credit profiles. PCBU's National Long-Term Rating is driven by our view of support from ProCredit Holding AG (PCH; BBB/Stable/bb), and underpinned by its standalone profile," it said.
"National ratings are a measure of relative credit risk among issuers in a country designed to help local investors differentiate risk. National scales are not comparable with Fitch's international ratings scales or with other countries' national ratings scales," it said.
