Moody’s updates rating on 11 Thai banks
Moody’s Investors Service has taken rating actions on 11 Thai banks, upgrading the Baseline Credit Assessments (BCA) of six banks
(1) Bangkok Bank Public Company Limited (BBL),
(2) Bank of Ayudhya (BAY)
(3) CIMB Thai Bank Public Company Limited (CIMBT)
(4) Export-Import Bank of Thailand (EXIMT)
(5) Government Housing Bank of Thailand (GHB)
(6) KASIKORNBANK Public Company Limited (KBank)
(7) Krung Thai Bank Public Company Limited (KTB)
(8) Siam Commercial Bank Public Company Limited (SCB)
(9) Standard Chartered Bank (Thai) Public Co Ltd (SCBT)
(10) TMB Bank Public Company Limited (TMB)
(11) United Overseas Bank (Thai) Public Co Ltd (UOBT)
Moody’s has affirmed the long-term local and foreign currency deposit ratings of KBank, KTB and SCB at Baa1, and those of CIMBT and SCBT at Baa2.
Moody’s has also affirmed the long-term foreign currency deposit ratings of BBL, BAY, GHB, and UOBT at Baa1. At the same time, Moody’s has upgraded TMB’s long-term foreign currency deposit rating to Baa1 from Baa2.
Further, Moody’s affirmed the long-term foreign currency senior unsecured program rating of BBL, EXIMT, KBank, KTB and SCB at (P)Baa1, and the long-term foreign currency senior unsecured rating of EXIMT at Baa1. The long-term foreign currency senior unsecured program rating of TMB was upgraded to (P)Baa1 from (P)Baa2.
Moody’s has also upgraded the Baseline Credit Assessments (BCA) and adjusted BCAs of BBL, KBank and SCB to baa1 from baa2, and those of KTB and TMB to baa3 from ba1. The BCA and adjusted BCA of UOBT were upgraded to baa3 and a3 from ba1 and baa1 respectively.
The BCAs and adjusted BCAs of these six banks were upgraded because these banks maintained good financial fundamentals despite the still challenging credit cycle in Thailand.
For SCBT, Moody’s affirmed the adjusted BCA at baa2. The BCAs and adjusted BCAs of BAY, CIMBT, EXIMT, and GHB were unaffected by today’s rating actions.
The long-term counterparty risk ratings (CRR) and counterparty risk assessment (CRA) of BBL, KBank and SCB were upgraded to A3 and A3(cr) from Baa1 and Baa1(cr) respectively. Moody’s affirmed the long-term CRR and CRA of KTB, SCBT and TMB at Baa1 and Baa1(cr) respectively. Moody’s also upgraded the long-term CRR and CRA of UOBT to A2 and A2(cr) from A3 and A3(cr) respectively. The CRRs and CRAs of BAY, CIMBT, EXIMT, and GHB were unaffected by today’s rating actions.
Moody’s changed the outlook on the long-term ratings of nine of the 11 Thai banks — with the exception of SCBT and TMB — to positive from stable. The outlook on the long-term ratings of SCBT is maintained at stable, while that of TMB is maintained at positive.
The changes in outlooks on the nine Thai banks follow Moody’s affirmation of Thailand’s Baa1 sovereign rating, and change in the outlook for the sovereign’s rating to positive from stable on 25 July 2019. For more information on the sovereign credit rating action, please refer to the Government of Thailand issuer page on www.moodys.com.
The Macro Profile for Thailand remains at Moderate+ and unaffected by the sovereign rating action.
