Moody’s upgraded two of the Greek banks, Eurobank and National Bank, to investment grade, before upgrading the Greek economy. These two banks achieved investment grade in their core rating which is long term deposits.
Moody’s Investors Service upgraded the ratings of six Greek banks (Alpha Bank, Attica, Eurobank, Pancreta, National Bank and Piraeus Bank) by one or two notches.
The upgrade is due to structural improvements in the Greek economy, as well as significant improvements in the banks’ financial figures.
It also reflects the rating agency’s view of the good outlook for Greek banks which are expected to maintain their relatively strong financial performance over the next two years while strengthening their capital stock and ability to absorb potential losses (for example from new non-performing loans).
It was noted that the structural improvements and reforms strengthened the economy and its resilience.
More specifically, Eurobank was upgraded to ba2 from b1, and its long-term deposits were upgraded to Baa3 from Ba2.
National Bank was upgraded to ba2 from b1, triggering the upgrade of long-term deposits to Baa3 from Ba2- investment grade- and its upgrade to Ba1 from Ba3.
Alpha Bank was upgraded to ba3 from b1, its long-term deposits were upgraded to Ba1 from Ba2 while the bank’s senior unsecured debt was upgraded to Ba2 from Ba3.
Piraeus Bank was upgraded to ba3 from b2, while its long-term deposits were upgraded to Ba1 from Ba3 and its senior unsecured debt was upgraded to Ba2 from B1.
Attica Bank’s profile was upgraded to caa2 from caa3 and its long-term deposits to B3 from Caa1. PancretaBank was upgraded to caa1 from caa2 and its long-term deposits upgraded to B2 from B3.
Fitch Ratings
Fitch also proceeded to an upgrade. More specifically, it upgraded Eurobank, as well as National Bank to BB. It also upgraded Piraeus Bank to BB-” from “B” and Alpha Bank to BB- from B+.
In particular, Fitch announced that it upgraded National Bank’s long-term credit rating to ‘BB’ from ‘BB-‘ previously and the Viability Rating (VR) to ‘bb’ from ‘bb-‘ with a stable outlook. It simultaneously upgraded the Long-Term Credit Rating of Eurobank and Eurobank Ergasias to ‘BB’ from ‘BB-‘ previously and the Viability Ratings (VRs) to ‘bb’ from ‘bb-‘ with a stable Outlook. Finally, it upgraded Piraeus Bank’s long-term credit rating to ‘BB-‘ from ‘B’ previously and its Viability Rating (VR) to ‘bb-‘ from ‘b’ with the Outlook also stable
