31st Mar 2016 14:59
LONDON (Alliance News) - Standard Chartered PLC on Wednesday had its credit rating cut by Standard & Poor's, following a review initiated after the Asia-focused bank reported its first annual loss since 1989.
The ratings agency cut its rating on Standard Chartered group entities, including the PLC, Standard Chartered Bank, and their subsidiaries.
Standard Chartered PLC was lowered to BBB+/Stable/A-2 from A-/Watch Neg/A-2. Standard Chartered Bank was lowered to A/Positive/A-1 from A+/ Watch Neg/A-1.
"We consider the Standard Chartered group's creditworthiness to have weakened considerably when compared with global peers with a similar stand-alone credit profile such as major banks in Singapore, Canada, and Australia," Terry Sham, a credit analyst at Standard & Poor's, said in a statement.
Sham had warned in February of the potential for a cut in the ratings on Standard Chartered. Earlier that month, Standard Chartered reported a USD1.52 billion pretax loss in 2015, as revenue suffered amid a costly restructuring, volatile Chinese equity markets and depressed commodities prices.
Under the leadership of Chief Executive Bill Winters, Standard Chartered has raised USD5.1 billion in a rights issue and cut its exposure to the commodities sector.
Standard & Poor's said on Thursday it expects the bank's recovery to be "protracted amid an unsupportive operating environment".
Shares in Standard Chartered were up 0.3% at 473.50 pence on Thursday afternoon.
By Samuel Agini; [email protected]; @samuelagini
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