Moody's cuts Absa Bank

Moody's Investors Service said it downgraded the long-term local-currency deposit and foreign-currency senior unsecured debt ratings of Absa Bank Ltd., the South African subsidiary of Barclays Bank plc, to A3 from A2.

Moody's said the downgrade reflects the reduced capacity of Barclays to provide timely capital and funding support to Absa, in case of need, as indicated by the downgrade of Barclay's long-term deposit and debt ratings to A2 from Aa3 and the lowering of its standalone bank financial strength rating to C-/Baa2 from C/A3.

Moody's also downgraded the national-scale issuer rating of United Towers (Proprietary) Ltd., a fully owned subsidiary of Absa, to A2.za from A1.za.

The downgrade of United Towers was driven by the downgrade of Absa's long-term deposit rating, which is used as a benchmark for positioning United Towers' national scale rating, the agency said.

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