April 30 (SeeNews) - Moody's Investors Service on Friday said it downgraded the bank financial strength ratings (BFSRs) as well as the deposit and debt ratings of nine Greek banks to reflect their weakening stand-alone financial strength and the anticipated additional pressures stemming from the country's challenged economic prospects.
Some of the banks affected by the rating action - National Bank of Greece, EFG Eurobank Ergasias, Alpha Bank, Piraeus Bank, Emporiki Bank of Greece, Agricultural Bank of Greece, General Bank of Greece, Marfin Egnatia Bank and Attica Bank - have operations in countries of Southeast Europe.
Moody's issued a statement in which it also said:
"[...] The banks' deposit and debt ratings remain on review for possible downgrade and will be concluded at the same time as Moody's ongoing review of the country's sovereign rating, which serves as a reference point with which to impute bank rating uplift as a result of possible systemic support.
[...] Moody's says that the acute economic strain facing Greece is materially impacting the banking sector's financial condition, requiring it to be further supported.
"Increasingly challenging economic prospects point to low business growth, increased loan quality problems and continued pressure on margins. Based on the events of the past few weeks, Moody's expects the Greek banking system to face heightened challenges, thus necessitating a fundamental repositioning of the banks' ratings", says Mardig Haladjian, Senior Vice President.
Although additional measures taken to address fiscal imbalances at the national level are positive for the sovereign's creditworthiness, they may come at a cost of depressing economic growth over the short to medium term. Negative growth will in turn give rise to unemployment, lower consumer disposable income and reduced profitability in the small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) and corporate sectors. Mr. Haladjian added that "Moody's expects the upward trend in non-performing loans, which began in 2008, to continue in 2010 and 2011. Taken together, these factors will place significant additional pressure on the banking sector's already weakened asset quality and profitability."
The banks' funding franchises have also weakened over the past few months. The erosion of market confidence caused by the country's fiscal problems has curtailed the banks' access to the interbank and bond markets. As a result, the banks have had to rely increasingly on the ECB to manage their liquidity needs -- indeed, ECB funding now accounts for approximately 15% of Greek commercial banks' total liabilities. Moody's expects that, over the foreseeable future, Greek banks are likely to face very difficult conditions in the wholesale markets and will therefore continue to rely on ECB funding. In this regard, Moody's takes comfort that the ECB will remain a reliable source of funding for the banks until market confidence can be restored. However, access to ECB funding is not unlimited and Moody's will continue to closely monitor each bank's funding needs and the assets available to post as collateral for ECB funding.
The banks' BFSRs carry a negative outlook to capture the possibility of further deterioration in the country's economic conditions, which would necessitate additional liquidity and solvency support.
The specific rating changes implemented today are as follows:
National Bank of Greece SA, NBG Finance plc, and National Bank of Greece Funding Limited:
- Bank financial strength rating downgraded to D+ from C- (mapping into a baseline credit assessment (BCA) of Ba1); rating remains on negative outlook
- Deposit ratings downgraded to Baa2/Prime-2 from A3/Prime-2; ratings remain on review for downgrade
- Senior unsecured debt rating downgraded to Baa2 from A3; rating remains on review for downgrade
- Subordinated debt ratings downgraded to Baa3 from Baa1; rating remains on review for downgrade
- Backed (government-guaranteed) senior unsecured MTN remains unchanged at A3 on review for downgrade
- Preferred Stock (Hybrid Tier 1) downgraded to B1 from Ba1; rating remains on negative outlook
EFG Eurobank Ergasias SA, EFG Hellas plc, EFG Hellas (Cayman Islands) Limited, and EFG Hellas Funding Limited:
- Bank financial strength rating downgraded to D from C- (mapping into a BCA of Ba2); rating remains on negative outlook
- Deposit ratings and senior unsecured debt ratings downgraded to Baa3/Prime-3 from A3/Prime-2; ratings remain on review for downgrade
- Commercial paper downgraded to Prime-3 from Prime-2; rating remains on review for downgrade
- Subordinated debt ratings downgraded to Ba1 from Baa1; rating remains on review for downgrade
- Backed (government-guaranteed) senior unsecured MTN unchanged at A3 on review for downgrade
- Preferred Stock (Hybrid Tier 1) downgraded to B2 from Ba2; rating remains on negative outlook
Alpha Bank AE, Alpha Credit Group plc, Alpha Group Jersey Limited:
- Bank financial strength rating downgraded to D from C- (mapping into a BCA of Ba2); rating remains on negative outlook
- Deposit and senior unsecured debt ratings downgraded to Baa3/Prime-3 from A3/Prime-2; ratings remain on review for downgrade
- Commercial Paper downgraded to Prime-3 from Prime-2; rating remains on review for downgrade
- Backed (government-guaranteed) senior unsecured unchanged at A3 on review for downgrade
- Subordinated debt ratings downgraded to Ba1 from Baa1; rating remains on review for downgrade
- Preferred Stock (Hybrid Tier 1) downgraded to B2 from Ba2; rating remains on negative outlook
Piraeus Bank SA, Piraeus Group Finance plc, and Piraeus Group Capital Limited:
- Bank financial strength rating downgraded to E+ from D+ (mapping into a BCA of B1); rating remains on negative outlook
- Deposit and senior unsecured debt ratings downgraded to Ba1/Not Prime from Baa1/Prime-2; long-term rating remains on review for downgrade
- Backed (government-guaranteed) senior unsecured unchanged at A3 on review for downgrade
- Subordinated debt ratings downgraded to Ba2 from Baa2; rating remains on review for downgrade
- Commercial Paper downgraded to Not-prime from Prime-2
- Preferred Stock (Hybrid Tier 1) downgraded to Caa1 from Ba3; rating remains on negative outlook
Agricultural Bank of Greece SA, ABG Finance International plc:
- Bank financial strength ratings downgraded to E+ from D (mapping into a BCA of B2); rating remains on negative outlook
- Deposit and senior unsecured debt ratings downgraded to Baa3/Prime-3 from Baa1/Prime-2; ratings remain on review for downgrade
- Subordinated debt ratings downgraded to Ba1 from Baa2; rating remains on review for downgrade
Emporiki Bank of Greece SA, Emporiki Group Finance plc:
- Bank financial strength ratings downgraded to E+ from D (mapping into a BCA of B1); rating remains on negative outlook
- Deposit and senior unsecured debt ratings downgraded to Baa2/Prime-2 from A3/Prime-2; ratings remain on review for downgrade
The ratings of Emporiki Bank impute support from its French parent bank, Credit Agricole SA.
- Subordinated debt rating downgraded to Baa3 from Baa1; rating remains on review for downgrade
Marfin Egnatia Bank SA, Egnatia Finance plc:
- Bank financial strength ratings downgraded to E+ from D (mapping into a BCA of B1); ratings remain on negative outlook
- Deposit and senior unsecured debt ratings downgraded to Baa2/Prime-2 from Baa1/Prime-2; outlook changed to developing
On the down side, the rating could be lowered if the bank's BCA were to be downgraded due to further weakening of the Greek franchise, while on the upside the rating could converge with that of its higher-rated Cyprus-based parent bank, once the merger is concluded.
- Subordinated debt ratings downgraded to Baa2 from Baa1, with developing outlook
Bank of Attica SA, Attica Funds plc:
- Bank financial strength ratings downgraded to E+ from D (mapping into a BCA of B1); outlook changed to negative
- Deposit and senior unsecured debt ratings downgraded to Ba2 from Ba1; rating remains on review for downgrade
- Subordinated debt rating downgraded to Ba3 from Ba2; rating remains on review for downgrade
General Bank of Greece SA:
- Bank financial strength ratings downgraded to E+ from D (mapping into a BCA of B1); rating remains on negative outlook
- Deposit ratings downgraded to Baa2/Prime-2 from Baa1/ Prime-2; ratings remain on review for downgrade
The ratings of General Bank impute support from its French parent bank, Societe Generale.
The previous rating actions on National Bank of Greece, EFG Eurobank Ergasias, Alpha Bank, Piraeus Bank, Agricultural Bank of Greece and Emporiki Bank of Greece, were implemented on 23 April 2010, when ratings were placed on review for possible downgrade. The last rating action on Marfin Egnatia Bank SA was on 23 September 2009 when the BFSR was downgraded to D from D+. The last rating action on Bank of Attica SA was implemented on 24 April 2007 when Moody's assigned global local currency deposit ratings. The last rating action on General Bank of Greece SA was implemented on 15 December 2009 when Moody's downgraded the bank's BFSR to D.
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All of the nine rated banks affected by today' rating actions are headquartered in Athens, Greece.
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