Mubasher: Capital Intelligence Ratings (CI Ratings) announced that it has affirmed the long- and short-term foreign currency ratings (FCRs) of Istanbul-based QNB Finansbank (QNBF) at “BB+” and “B”, respectively, with a negative outlook.
The international credit rating agency also affirmed the lender’s financial strength rating (FSR) at “BBB”, according to CI Ratings’ recent report.
The rating reflects the challenging operating and economic environment in Turkey, CI Ratings noted.
“The ratings are primarily supported by the Bank's sound and well-established franchise in the Turkish banking sector and its good earnings generation capacity, backed by the strong operating profit performance in 2017 and H1 2018,” the report highlighted.
QNBF is near the top of the second tier of banks operating in Turkey and ranks 8th of the European country's 51 banks with total assets of $34.1 billion.
Moreover, the bank, which is 99.88% owned by Qatar National Bank (QNB), the Gulf Arab region's largest bank, is considered one of the largest privately-owned banks and one of the largest Turkish lenders with majority foreign ownership.
It is worth noting that the Turkish Lira witnessed a drop last week as US President Donald Trump doubled tariffs on Turkish steel and aluminum imports.
This tension began when Turkey refused to release an American evangelical pastor accused of being involved in a coup d’état scheme against the government.
