Capital Intelligence (CI) on Monday announced that it has upgraded the Rating Outlook for Amen Bank, based in Tunis, Tunisia.
The Financial Strength Rating (FSR) is affirmed at ‘B+’. The Rating is supported by the stake and capital injection from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), stronger profitability and improved loan asset quality.
The rating is constrained by tight liquidity. Amen’s Long-Term Foreign Currency Rating is maintained at ‘B+’ and the Short-Term Foreign Currency Rating is affirmed at ‘B’.
The Rating Outlook for all ratings is lifted to ‘Positive’ from ‘Stable’ on account of improving loan asset quality and coverage, and stronger profitability. The Support Level is also raised to ‘3’ from ‘4’, reflecting likely level of support either from the majority owners and/or the Tunisian authorities.
Amen Bank has a good banking franchise in Tunisia, with a solid market share in both deposits and loans. Results in 2013 were much better and the trend continued in H1 2014.
The Bank’s two principal weaknesses are its loan asset quality and liquidity.
The former has seen good progress over the past eighteen months.
