SA affiliation ‘key reason’ for Stanbic ratings

THE STANDARD Bank Group’s capacity to support its subsidiaries on the continent was highlighted with the affirmation by credit ratings agency Fitch Ratings of Stanbic IBTC Holdings plc, Nigeria’s leading end-to-end financial solutions provider, and Stanbic IBTC Bank plc, its banking subsidiary, retaining their national long-term ratings of AAA (nga).

In a statement yesterday, the group said a key rating driver for both companies was their affiliation to South Africa’s Standard Bank Group, their parent company.

“The ratings are an indication of the Standard Bank Group’s capacity and readiness to support both organisations. Another factor taken into cognisance during the rating process were the role of both companies as Standard Bank’s main operations in West Africa, as well as the ownership size and high operational integration,” it said.

According to the report, both organisations also maintained their national short-term ratings of F1+ (nga).

The “AAA (nga)” rating represents the highest score assigned by Fitch Ratings in its national rating scale for Nigeria. It is assigned to issuers with the lowest expectation of default risk in comparison with other issuers in Nigeria. The national short-term rating of F1, on the other hand, is bestowed on issuers or obligations that have the strongest capacity for timely payment of financial commitments relative to other issuers in the same country. Stanbic IBTC Bank plc and Stanbic IBTC Holdings plc were, however, rated as F1+ (nga) due to their very strong liquidity profiles.

The group said despite Nigeria’s country ceiling rating of B+, Fitch affirms that a downgrade of Nigeria’s rating will not result in the lowering of the national long-term and national short-term ratings of both Stanbic IBTC Holdings plc and Stanbic IBTC Bank.

Stanbic IBTC Holdings plc has its roots in the Investment Banking & Trust Company plc (IBTC) which was formed in 1989 by a 33-yearold Atedo Peterside. In 2005, IBTC merged with Chartered Bank plc and Regent Bank plc to form IBTC Chartered Bank plc. In 2007, Stanbic IBTC Holdings plc was formed from the merger of IBTC Chartered Bank plc and Stanbic Bank Nigeria Limited.

In 2012, the Stanbic IBTC Group officially adopted a holding company structure in compliance with CBN regulation.