S&P: Bank of the Philippine Islands, Security Bank views now negative

S&P said it revised its outlook on Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) and Security Bank Corp. Ltd. to negative from stable.

S&P affirmed the BBB+ issuer credit ratings on BPI and the BBB-ratings on Security Bank.

“The economic risk trend for banks operating in the Philippines has turned negative, in our view,” S&P said in a news release.

“We believe the risk of credit losses soaring for Philippine banks is higher than we expected, given challenging economic conditions,” S&P said in a press release.

Fitch affirms Bank of the Philippine Islands

Fitch Ratings said it affirmed the long-term issuer default ratings of the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) at BBB- and its viability rating at bbb-.

The outlook is stable.

“The Philippines’ economy is taking a severe blow from the coronavirus pandemic, with GDP contracting 9% in 1H20 (2019: 6% growth) to mark the worst contraction in Southeast Asia,” Fitch said in a news release.

“Economic conditions have worsened considerably since our last review in May 2020, and will remain challenging despite our expectation of a rebound in headline growth to 9.0% in 2021 from an 8.0% contraction this year.”

S&P puts Euronext on negative watch

S&P said it placed its A- long-term issuer credit rating and A- senior unsecured issue credit rating on Euronext NV on CreditWatch with negative implications.

On Oct. 9, Euronext announced it entered an agreement with London Stock Exchange Group plc to acquire London Stock Exchange Holdings Italia SpA, which owns Boursa Italiana SpA and its operating subsidiaries.

“We consider the transaction a logical extension of Euronext’s strategy as the leading consolidator of E.U. stock exchanges, and that the geographical and product diversity of its revenue will improve as a result,” S&P said in a news release.

“However, the CreditWatch placement reflects our view that the company will substantially increase its financial leverage because of the deal. While we expect that the group will remain highly cash-generative and be able to deleverage, we anticipate that the leverage ratios will remain elevated even through end-2022.”

S&P rates W.K. Kellogg Foundation Trust social bonds AAA

S&P said it assigned its AAA rating to W.K. Kellogg Foundation Trust’s $300 million of series 2020 taxable social bonds.

The outlook is stable.

This is the trust’s first public bond issuance, and post-issuance total pro forma debt will be $300 million, S&P said.

S&P gives A- to Shinhan Card notes

S&P said it assigned its A- long-term issue rating to a proposed issue of U.S. dollar-denominated senior unsecured notes by Shinhan Card Co. Ltd. (SHC; A-/stable/A-2).

SHC intends to use the proceeds for financing and refinancing of new and existing social financing, including lending to low- to moderate-income individuals affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. This will be under parent Shinhan Financial Group Co. Ltd. (SFG) ’s sustainable development goals financing framework of June 2019, S&P said.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.