Yemisi Izuora
Fitch Ratings, has affirmed that Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC, Nigeria’s leading end-to-end financial solutions provider, and Stanbic IBTC Bank PLC, its banking subsidiary, have retained their National Long-Term Ratings of AAA(nga).
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; and 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.
A key rating driver for both companies is their affiliation to South Africa’s Standard Bank Group, their parent company.