Dubai - Mubasher: Capital Intelligence Ratings (CI), the international credit rating agency, went for upgrading The long-term foreign currency rating of the UAE’s Commercial Bank International (CBI)by five rating tiers to ‘A-’ from ‘BB’.
The rating upgrade was driven by CBI’s continuously improving asset quality and robust capital position, in addition to the strong backing it receives from its largest shareholder, Qatar National Bank.
CBI’s improved rating follows the investment grade rating it received earlier this year from Fitch Ratings, which assigned the Dubai-based bank a long-term issuer default rating of ‘A-’.
Additionally, the Financial Strength Rating of CBI has been upgraded to ‘BBB-’ from ‘BB’ with a Stable outlook.
CI believes that CBI is well-placed to grow its business by leveraging its close connections with Qatar National Bank (QNB) and is therefore in an advantageous position in the domestic market vis-à-vis other banks of similar size.
The substantial business support extended by its major shareholder, QNB, as well as the Bank’s strong fee and commission income base are other factors supporting the rating upgrade.
