Moody's Investors Service has today concluded its rating review on three Nigerian banks by confirming the standalone baseline credit assessments (BCA) of two banks, downgrading the supported long-term ratings of two banks and confirming the supported long-term ratings of one of the banks. The rating actions follow the downgrade of the Nigerian government's issuer rating to B1, stable, from Ba3, Rating Under Review.
More specifically, Moody's has confirmed the standalone ratings of b2 of Access Bank Plc (Access) and b3 of Sterling Bank Plc (Sterling), as the rating agency expects their standalone credit profiles to remain resilient despite challenging operating conditions.
At the same time, Moody's has downgraded Access Bank's local currency and foreign currency deposit ratings to B1 and B2, from Ba3 and B1 respectively, and downgraded Bank of Industry's issuer rating to B1 from Ba3. These downgrades reflect the weakened capacity of the government of Nigeria to provide support to the banks in case of need, as indicated by the downgrade of the Nigerian government's issuer rating to B1, stable, from Ba3, Rating Under Review and the subsequent lowering of the rating ceilings for Nigerian issuers.
Sterling's B2 ratings were confirmed as they remain unaffected by the recent sovereign rating actions.
The ratings of all three banks now carry a stable outlook.
