Standard Chartered Sri Lanka gets ‘AAA’ Fitch Rating with a Stable Outlook

Standard Chartered Sri Lanka’s National Long-Term Rating has once again been affirmed at ‘AAA(lka)’ by Fitch Ratings Lanka with a Stable Outlook.

According to a statement by Fitch Ratings, the Bank’s support-driven credit profile is among the strongest in the country’s rated entities, and as a result, the rating is at the highest end of the National Rating scale for Sri Lanka. Standard Chartered Sri Lanka’s rating is underpinned by Fitch’s expectation of a high probability of support from the head office of Standard Chartered Bank in the UK.

The Bank’s financial profile is expected to remain better than local peers in the medium term, reflecting the Bank’s healthy underwriting standards and risk controls. Fitch Ratings Lanka also notes that Standard Chartered Sri Lanka’s non-performing loans ratio increased to 2.7% by end-3Q20 – better than the sector average, driven mostly by retail loans, and that its common equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio of 16.8% at end-3Q20 was higher than the sector’s 13%. Fitch believes that the Bank’s funding and liquidity profile will remain steady in the medium term, underpinned by a healthy share of customer deposits and the availability of inter-group funding.