S&P upgrades Access Bank

Standard & Poor's said it raised the long-term counterparty credit rating on Access Bank plc to BB- from B+.

The agency also said it raised the long-term Nigeria national scale rating to ngAA- from ngA and affirmed its B short-term rating.

The outlook is stable.

The upgrade reflects Access Bank's successful integration of Intercontinental Bank and its reduction of risk-related to foreign-currency lending, S&P said.

Both factors should result in future asset quality that compares well with levels at the highest-rated banks in Nigeria, the agency said.

Access Bank completed the integration of Intercontinental Bank in 2012 to become the fifth-largest bank operating in Nigeria, S&P said, and a highly systemically important financial institution.

The agency said it believes the bank's improved franchise, branch network and cost of funds will enable it to execute its strategy to lend increasingly to Nigeria's most creditworthy corporations.

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