S&P boosts Equitable PCI Bank to B+

Standard & Poor's said it raised its long-term counterparty credit ratings on Equitable PCI Bank Inc. to B+ from B and boosted its ratings on the bank's senior unsecured debt to B+ from B and subordinated debt to B- from CCC+. The B short-term counterparty credit rating and the bank fundamental strength rating of D were affirmed.

The outlook is stable.

The upgrade comes after the announcement of a decision by the boards of both the bank and Banco de Oro Universal Bank (B+/stable/B) to merge, creating Philippines' second-largest commercial bank in terms of total assets and deposits.

The merged bank's business profile will be stronger than that of the two banks individually, S&P said.

The merged bank's pro-forma asset quality and capitalization would be essentially a weighted average of the stand-alone entities. The merged capitalization will be marginally better than that of Equitable PCI Bank's, the agency said, adding that the credit profile of the merged bank is likely to be closer to that of Banco de Oro Universal Bank.

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