ECONOMYNEXT – Fitch Ratings said it was confirming a national long-term A(lka) rating on Sri Lanka’s Sampath Bank Plc with a stable outlook, amid an improvement in operating environment, indicated by headline macroeconomic indicators.
The bank had stage 3 loans of nearly 17 percent at end-1Q24 (2023: 16.6 percent).
Fitch expected this ratio to decrease in the near- to medium-term alongside focused recoveries.
“We expect Sampath’s impaired (stage 3) loans ratio to decline gradually in the medium term, due to its recovery efforts, improvements in repayment capacity of borrowers from the stabilisation in economic conditions, and moderate loan book growth.”
The bank also had defaulted sovereign bonds. “Defaulted foreign-currency sovereign bonds, which accounted for 1.9% of assets, had impairments amounting to 52% of its holdings as of end-1Q24.”
The full statement is reproduced below:
Fitch Affirms Sampath Bank at ‘A(lka)’; Outlook Stable
Fitch Ratings – Colombo – 22 Jul 2024: Fitch Ratings has affirmed Sri Lanka-based Sampath Bank PLC’s (Sampath) National Long-Term Rating at ‘A(lka)’. The Outlook is Stable. Fitch also affirmed Sampath’s outstanding Sri Lankan rupee-denominated subordinated debt at ‘BBB+(lka)’.
KEY RATING DRIVERS
Intrinsic Profile Drives Rating: Sampath’s National Long-Term Rating reflects its own financial strength, which is highly influenced by its exposure to the sovereign’s weak credit profile (Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR): RD; LongTerm Local-Currency IDR: CCC-) and the ongoing sovereign debt restructuring, which had been putting pressure on Sampath’s credit profile. The rating also reflects Sampath’s modest domestic franchise as Sri Lanka’s fifth-largest commercial bank.
Stabilising OE: Sri Lankan banks’ operating environment (OE) continues to show signs of stabilisation, as evident in sustained improvements in reported headline macroeconomic indicators, supporting the recovery in banks’ operational flexibility.
Further improvement to the bank’s OE remains contingent on successful execution of the sovereign’s external debt-restructuring exercise alongside the restoration of the sovereign’s creditworthiness, given the strong link between sovereign financial health and banks’ operating conditions.
Economic Stabilisation Aids Business Profile: We believe the gradual improvement in economic conditions should support Sampath’s ability to generate and defend business volumes, despite the vulnerabilities from the weak sovereign and economy. We expect a moderate resumption in lending alongside the gradual economic recovery, similar to peers. This should result in a higher loan book share of assets (net loans to assets of 48.0% at end-1Q24) in the medium term.
Sovereign Risk Remains: Sampath’s risk profile assessment continues to reflect its exposures to the weak sovereign and economic environment. Defaulted foreign-currency sovereign bonds, which accounted for 1.9% of assets, had impairments amounting to 52% of its holdings as of end-1Q24. In addition, local-currency-denominated treasury securities contributed to 34% of its assets at end-2023, of which 59% were treasury bonds and the remainder in treasury bills, which makes the bank susceptible to the sovereign’s repayment ability and liquidity status.
Impaired Loans Decline Gradually: We expect Sampath’s impaired (stage 3) loans ratio to decline gradually in the medium term, due to its recovery efforts, improvements in repayment capacity of borrowers from the stabilisation in economic conditions, and moderate loan book growth. Prolonged economic challenges that continued for most of 2023 led to a further impaired-loans accretion, which together with loan book contraction resulted in the bank’s impaired-loans ratio rising to 16.6% by end-2023 (end-2022: 11.6%), above the industry’s 12.8%.
Declining Risks to Profitability: We believe downside risk to profitability from the restructuring of sovereign bonds has diminished, and any incremental impairment, if necessary, will be manageable, given the existing provisions on the holdings. We expect Sampath’s operating profit/risk weighted assets ratio (1Q24: 4.8%, 4-year average 3.2%) to moderate over the medium term on account of the decline in interest rates. This will be partially offset by lower credit costs, alongside the increase in risk density from the growth in the share of loans.
Downside Risks to Capital Manageable: We believe downside risk to capital from the bank’s exposure to defaulted sovereign bonds (1.9% as of end-1Q24) is manageable, as per the announced restructuring terms – given the bank’s provisions on these instruments amounting to 52% on the exposure at end-1Q24. The regulatory common equity tier 1 (CET1) capital ratio declined marginally to 15.6% by end-1Q24 (excluding 1Q24 profit) from 16.7% at end-2023, following a cash dividend payment, but remains one of the highest among Fitch-rated large Sri Lankan banks.
Funding and Liquidity Risks Remain: We believe Sampath ‘s funding and liquidity stress has eased on both the foreign- and local-currency fronts relative to the crisis period.
This was due to favourable external sector flows and the bank’s focus on liquidity preservation, as reflected in its high liquidity coverage ratio. We believe these developments have reduced the risk of bank failure. However, its funding and liquidity profile – particularly in foreign currency – remains susceptible to sudden changes in creditor sentiment driven by adverse changes to the sovereign’s credit profile, similar to peers.
RATING SENSITIVITIES
Factors that Could, Individually or Collectively, Lead to Negative Rating Action/Downgrade
The bank’s National Rating is sensitive to a change in its creditworthiness relative to other Sri Lankan issuers.
A deterioration in Sampath’s key credit metrics beyond our base-case expectations relative to peers would also lead to increased pressure on the rating, which is driven by its intrinsic financial strength.
Factors that Could, Individually or Collectively, Lead to Positive Rating Action/Upgrade
Positive rating action on the sovereign may lead to an upgrade. A sustained improvement in key credit metrics beyond our base-case expectations relative to peers, could also lead to an upgrade.
OTHER DEBT AND ISSUER RATINGS: KEY RATING DRIVERS SUBORDINATED DEBT
Sampath’s Sri Lankan rupee-denominated outstanding subordinated debt is rated two notches below the National Long-Term Rating anchor. This reflects Fitch’s baseline notching for loss severity for this type of debt, and our expectations of poor recoveries.
There is no additional notching for non-performance risks, as the notes do not incorporate going-concern loss-absorption features.
OTHER DEBT AND ISSUER RATINGS: RATING SENSITIVITIES
The subordinated debt ratings will move in tandem with the bank’s National Long-Term Rating.
REFERENCES FOR SUBSTANTIALLY MATERIAL SOURCE CITED AS KEY DRIVER OF RATING
The principal sources of information used in the analysis are described in the Applicable Criteria.
Additional information is available on www.fitchratings.com (Colombo/Jul24/2024)