Fitch Ratings has downgraded Arab International Lease’s (AIL) National Long-Term (LT) Rating to ‘BB (tun)’ from ‘AA+(tun)’ and National Short-Term Rating to ‘B'(tun) from ‘F1+(tun), it said.
The Outlook on the National Long-Term Rating is Stable. The ratings have been removed from Rating Watch Negative (RWN).
The rating actions follow the completion of the sale by France’s Groupe BPCE (GBPCE, A+/ Negative) of its 60% shareholding in Banque Tuniso-Koweitienne (BTK), AIL’s direct 95% shareholder, to Tunisia’s Elloumi Group (EG, unrated).
The transaction was completed on 27 August 2021, following approval by the Tunisian regulators. AIL’s ratings, which were driven by a moderate probability of support from GBPCE, were put on RWN in October 2018 after the French bank first announced its intention to sell its stakes in BTK.
Following the completion of this transaction, we now assess AIL’s ratings based on its standalone credit profile. The downgrade of AIL’s National LT Rating reflects our view that the company’s creditworthiness is considerably lower based on its standalone credit profile than it was based on GBPCE support. The Stable Outlook indicates that downward and upward pressures on AIL’s National LT Rating are evenly balanced.
National Ratings reflect the creditworthiness of an issuer relative to the country’s best credit and relative to peers operating within that country, said Fitch.
