Moody’s Investors Service has announced the outlook to “stable” from “negative” and affirmed issuer rating at B1 for the City Bank Limited.
The rating was assigned considering the bank’s strength and challenges along with the impact of current economic turmoil from Covid-19 pandemic, the bank said in a statement on Tuesday.
According to the statement, the stable outlook of City Bank reflects Moody's expectation that Bangladesh's robust economic growth and the pandemic-related forbearance measures that eased debt repayment burden of affected borrowers will limit the banks' asset quality deterioration and support their solvency over the next 12 to 18 months. The affirmation of City Bank’s rating of B1 reflects the bank’s modest asset quality, average capital position and moderate profitability.
The B1 rating of City Bank demonstrates improved profitability driven by higher net interest margin, improved capital adequacy ratio and concentration on SME, retail banking and trusted corporate clients to manage asset risk.
Superior strength on retail banking & credit card segments, a sturdy deposit franchise and access to development funds from development financiers are recognized as credit strengths of the bank.
