Lagos, 30 June 2021 – GCR Ratings (“GCR”) has upgraded the national scale long term credit ratings accorded to Stanbic IBTC Bank PLC’s Structured Note Programme (“SNP”) 2 Series 1 Senior Unsecured Notes to AA+(NG) from AA(NG), with a Stable Outlook.
Issue | Rating class | Rating scale | Rating | Outlook |
N30bn Series 1 Senior Unsecured | Long term issue | National | AA+(NG) | Stable |
Rating Rationale
Stanbic IBTC Bank PLC’s (“Stanbic IBTC” or “the Issuer”) national scale long term Issuer rating was recently upgraded to AA+(NG) from AA(NG), underpinned by its sustained adequate capitalisation and sound asset quality amidst the strains in the operating environment. Given the status of the N30bn Series 1 Notes as senior unsecured, the accorded long term issue rating has been upgraded to AA+(NG) from AA(NG), reflective of the one notch upgrade in the Issuer ‘s rating.
Stanbic IBTC’s SNP 2 Series 1 senior unsecured Notes of N30bn was issued in December 2018 under the N150bn SNP. Particularly, the SNPs Trust Deeds permit the Issuer to exercise its discretion in determining the number of issues, as well as the forms, terms and conditions of the Notes to be issued under the SNPs. Accordingly, the SNP Notes constitute direct, senior unsecured obligations of the Issuer. The Series 1 Notes constitute senior, direct, irrevocable, and unsubordinated obligations of the Issuer, and shall rank pari passu without any preference among themselves and all unsecured and unsubordinated indebtedness and monetary obligations of the Issuer, present and future, but in the event of insolvency, only to the extent permitted by applicable laws relating to creditors’ rights.
Being senior unsecured debt, the Notes bear the same probability of default as the Issuer and would reflect similar recovery prospects to senior unsecured creditors in the event of a default.
According to the period performance reports provided to GCR by the Trustees to the Noteholders, dated 18 June 2021, the Issuer has been meeting all its obligations under the Note issues on a timely basis so far, with total coupon payment till date amounting to N11.8bn.
Outlook Statement
The stable outlook reflects GCR’s expectation that Stanbic IBTC’s financial profile would remain resilient despite the strains in the operating environment. We anticipate a strong GCR core capital ratio, underpinned by solid internal capital generation and adequate loan loss reserving. Credit losses and NPL ratio are expected to be sustained at strong range, albeit with the loan book concentration by obligor and FCY anticipated to remain high. We also factored in adequate liquidity on account of the highly liquid balance sheet.
Rating Triggers
The accorded ratings would be sensitive to a positive rating action on the Issuer. Non-compliance with the set covenants or a downgrade in the Issuer’s rating could trigger a negative rating action.
Analytical Contacts
Primary analyst | Yinka Adeoti | Financial Institutions Analyst |
Lagos, NG | Adeoti@GCRratings.com | +234 1 904 9462 |
Committee chair | Matthew Pirnie | Group Head of Ratings |
Johannesburg, ZA | MatthewP@GCRratings.com | +27 11 784 1771 |
Related Criteria and Research
Criteria for the GCR Ratings Framework, May 2019 |
Criteria for Rating Financial Institutions, May 2019 |
GCR Ratings Scale, Symbols & Definitions, May 2019 |
GCR Nigeria Country Risk Scores, February 2021 |
GCR Nigeria Financial Institutions Sector Risk Score, February 2021 |
Ratings History
Stanbic IBTC Bank PLC- N30bn Senior Unsecured Notes
Rating class | Review | Rating scale | Rating | Outlook | Date |
Long Term Issue | Initial | National | AA-(NG) | Stable | January 2019 |
Long Term Issue | Last | National | AA(NG) | Stable | August 2020 |
Risk Score Summary of the Issuer
Rating Components & Factors | Risk scores |
Operating environment | 7.25 |
Country risk score | 3.75 |
Sector risk score | 3.50 |
Business profile | 1.00 |
Competitive position | 1.00 |
Management and governance | 0.00 |
Financial profile | 1.00 |
Capital and Leverage | 0.50 |
Risk | 0.50 |
Funding and Liquidity | 0.00 |
Comparative profile | 1.50 |
Group support | 1.50 |
Government support | 0.00 |
Peer analysis | 0.00 |
Total Score | 10.75 |
Glossary
Balance Sheet | Also known as Statement of Financial Position. A statement of a company’s assets and liabilities provided for the benefit of shareholders and regulators. It gives a snapshot at a specific point in time of the assets the company holds and how they have been financed. |
Capital | The sum of money that is invested to generate proceeds. |
Cash | Funds that can be readily spent or used to meet current obligations. |
Debt | An obligation to repay a sum of money. More specifically, it is funds passed from a creditor to a debtor in exchange for interest and a commitment to repay the principal in full on a specified date or over a specified period. |
Diversification | Spreading risk by constructing a portfolio that contains different exposures whose returns are relatively uncorrelated. The term also refers to companies which move into markets or products that bear little relation to ones they already operate in. |
Exposure | Exposure is the amount of risk the holder of an asset or security is faced with as a consequence of holding the security or asset. For a company, its exposure may relate to a particular product class or customer grouping. Exposure may also arise from an overreliance on one source of funding. In insurance, it refers to an individual or company’s vulnerability to various risks |
Income | Money received, especially on a regular basis, for work or through investments. |
Interest | Scheduled payments made to a creditor in return for the use of borrowed money. The size of the payments will be determined by the interest rate, the amount borrowed or principal and the duration of the loan. |
Issuer | The party indebted or the person making repayments for its borrowings. |
Leverage | With regard to corporate analysis, leverage (or gearing) refers to the extent to which a company is funded by debt. |
Liquidity | The speed at which assets can be converted to cash. It can also refer to the ability of a company to service its debt obligations due to the presence of liquid assets such as cash and its equivalents. Market liquidity refers to the ease with which a security can be bought or sold quickly and in large volumes without substantially affecting the market price. |
Long Term Rating | See GCR Rating Scales, Symbols and Definitions. |
Margin | A term whose meaning depends on the context. In the widest sense, it means the difference between two values. |
Market | An assessment of the property value, with the value being compared to similar properties in the area. |
Maturity | The length of time between the issue of a bond or other security and the date on which it becomes payable in full. |
Rating Outlook | See GCR Rating Scales, Symbols and Definitions. |
Risk | The chance of future uncertainty (i.e. deviation from expected earnings or an expected outcome) that will have an impact on objectives. |
Short Term Rating | See GCR Rating Scales, Symbols and Definitions. |
Short Term | Current; ordinarily less than one year. |
Salient Points of Accorded Ratings
GCR affirms that a.) no part of the rating was influenced by any other business activities of the credit rating agency; b.) the ratings were based solely on the merits of the rated entity, security or financial instrument being rated; and c.) such ratings were an independent evaluation of the risks and merits of the rated entity, security or financial instrument.
The credit rating has been disclosed to Stanbic IBTC Bank PLC. The rating above was solicited by, or on behalf of, the rated entity, and therefore, GCR has been compensated for the provision of the rating.
Stanbic IBTC Bank PLC participated in the rating process via telephonic management meetings, and other written correspondence. Furthermore, the quality of information received was considered adequate and has been independently verified where possible. The information received from Stanbic IBTC Bank PLC and other reliable third parties to accord the indicative rating included:
- The audited financial results as at 31 December 2020
- Four years of comparative audited numbers
- Management account as at 31 March 2021
- Trustees’ performance reports up to June 2021
- Other related documents.