Fitch Affirms SABB's Long Term Credit Rating at "A" and Revises its Outlook to "Stable"

  • View All View All
  • Print Print

Fitch Ratings, one of the world's leading rating agencies, has affirmed The Saudi British Bank's (SABB) long term credit rating at "A" and revised the Bank's outlook to "Stable"

The Ratings affirmation and Outlook revision reflects SABB’s financial strength, consistent strong profitability and earnings generation, and comfortable liquidity. The ratings also consider SABB’s strong franchise and the advantages of being an associate bank of HSBC Group.

Also, Fitch's Viability Rating (VR) on SABB of "A" is among the top viability ratings of Saudi banks rated by Fitch.

Commenting on the affirmation, David Dew, Managing Director of SABB, said: "We are pleased with the Fitch rating confirmation and the outlook revision to stable. It is an indication of SABB's ongoing prudent risk management and the scale and diversity of our operations, which have enabled the Bank to deliver strong financial results".

For the first nine months of 2013, SABB recorded a net profit of SAR2,798 million, an increase of SAR373 million, or 15.4% compared with the same period in 2012. This is primarily attributable to SABB's diversified income streams, ongoing cost controls and emphasis on booking quality assets while maintaining strong capital and liquidity ratios.