Fitch: Barclays outlook stable

Fitch Ratings said it changed the outlook on Barclays plc and Barclays Bank plc to stable from negative and affirmed Barclays' AA+ long-term issuer default rating, 5 support rating and "no floor" support rating floor. Also affirmed were Barclays Bank's AA+ long-term issuer default rating, F1+ short-term issuer default rating, 1 support rating, A/B individual rating and A- support rating floor.

The change in outlook follows Barclay's announcement that the acceptance conditions relating to its offer for ABN Amro will not be fulfilled and, therefore, the offer lapses.

Fitch had changed Barclays' outlook to negative from stable in April to reflect the execution risks associated with the potential cross-border merger with ABN Amro Holding, as well as the challenges in realizing the €3.5 billion of synergies that would have been needed in order to bring the performance of the proposed combined group to a level in line with that of Barclays' performance.

The agency said it does not consider the failure to acquire ABN Amro as a major problem for Barclays, which still has a strong franchise that it can continue to develop organically.

© 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.