Fitch lowers seven Saudi Arabia banks

Fitch Ratings said it downgraded the long-term issuer default ratings of seven Saudi Arabian banks.

The affected banks include Al Rajhi Bank, National Commercial Bank, Riyad Bank, Samba Financial Group, Saudi British Bank, Banque Saudi Fransi and Arab National Bank.

Al Rajhi Bank’s long-term issuer default rating was lowered to A from A+, along with National Commercial Bank’s long-term issuer default rating A from A+, Riyad Bank’s long-term issuer default rating to A from A+, Samba’s long-term issuer default rating to A from A+ and Arab National Bank’s long-term issuer default rating to A- from A.

Banque Saudi Fransi’s long-term issuer default rating was downgraded to A- from A, along with BSF Sukuk’s senior unsecured trust certificates to A- from A, Saudi British Bank’s long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating to A- from A, short-term foreign-currency issuer default rating to F2 from F1 and long-term local-currency issuer default rating to A- from A.

Fitch also said it revised the outlooks on Saudi Hollandi Bank, Saudi Investment Bank, Alinma Bank and Bank Aljazira to negative from stable and affirmed their ratings.

The outlooks on all of the other banks are negative.

The downgrades follow the recent downgrade of the Saudi Arabian sovereign ratings, the agency said.

The banks’ viability ratings also were downgraded to A- from A, reflecting the deterioration in the Saudi operating environment, which will likely have a negative pressure on the credit profiles of the banks, Fitch said.

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