Mubasher: Moody’s Investors Services has confirmed Boubyan Bank’s long-term deposit rating at “A3”, with a “stable” outlook.
The international ratings agency further affirmed the bank’s short-term deposit rating at “P-2” and the baseline credit assessment at “Ba1”, Boubyan said in a statement to Boursa Kuwait on Thursday.
“This reflects the bank’s rapid growth in the retail and corporate banking, which drives solid earnings generation for the bank, supports strong capitalisation, and stable funding despite the impact on the said strengths by the rapid growth of the bank’s credit portfolio, which comes with credit concentrations in some sectors,” Moody’s said in a statement.
Affirming the Kuwaiti bank’s long-term deposits’ rating at “A3” with a positive outlook reflects the Boubyan Bank’s rapid growth in terms of its local market share which fosters its strategic and financial importance to its parent company the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK), it said.
Boubyan Bank’s profitability is expected to remain stable on the back of higher operating income, supported by the quick growth of the bank’s Islamic franchise and the higher yields and government debt issuances.
During the first nine months of 2018, Boubyan Bank’s profits grew 18% to KWD 40.3 million ($133.14 million).
Boubyan Bank’s stock closed Thursday higher, rising 1.58% to 577 fils.
