Fitch lifts Turkiye Garanti to BBB

Fitch Ratings said it upgraded Turkiye Garanti Bankasi AS' long-term issuer default ratings to BBB from BBB-, short-term issuer default ratings to F2 from F3 and national rating to AAA from AA+. The support rating was also upgraded to 2 from 3.

The ratings were all removed from Rating Watch Positive.

Fitch said the action results from the change in control at the bank as a result of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA; A-/stable) purchasing an additional 14.89% stake in the bank from Dogus Holding, a transaction announced in November 2014 and completed on July 27. In so doing, BBVA gained management control of the bank despite holding only a 39.9% stake; Turkiye Garanti will henceforth be fully consolidated in BBVA's accounts.

The issuer default ratings, national rating and support rating were upgraded because the agency believes BBVA would provide support to its subsidiary, if required.

The support rating floor was affirmed and withdrawn, as they are only assigned to banks whose primary source of external support is considered to be the sovereign; this is no longer the case for Turkiye Garanti.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.