S&P: Associated Banc view positive

Standard & Poor's said it revised the outlook on Associated Banc Corp. and subsidiary Associated Bank NA to positive from stable and affirmed its BB- counterparty credit rating on Associated and the BB+ rating on the banking subsidiary.

The action reflects the opinion that Associated's credit quality will continue to improve along with significant declines in loan loss provisioning and nonperforming assets since last year, resulting in a return to profitability, according to the agency.

"We believe that some negative asset quality measures remain high, but we view favorably management's progress in removing problem assets from the bank's balance sheet, especially through bulk sales," S&P analyst Sunsierre Newsome said in a statement.

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