Fitch upgrades 10 Sri Lankan banks’ ratings after sovereign upgrade

Fitch Ratings has upgraded the National Long-Term Ratings of 10 Sri Lankan banks following the recent sovereign rating upgrade and a recalibration of the agency’s Sri Lankan national rating scale.

In addition, Fitch has affirmed the National Long-Term Ratings of five Sri Lankan banks. The recalibration reflects changes in the relative creditworthiness of Sri Lankan issuers after Fitch upgraded Sri Lanka’s Long-Term Local-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to ‘CCC+’ from ‘CCC-’ on December 20, 2024. Notably, Fitch typically does not assign Outlooks to sovereigns rated ‘CCC+’ or below.

National scale ratings are a risk-ranking tool designed to help local investors differentiate the credit risks of issuers within a specific market. The National Ratings of the banks take into account their creditworthiness relative to other issuers in Sri Lanka.

As a result of the recalibration, the National Long-Term Ratings of the aforementioned banks have been upgraded, while their Outlooks remain Stable.

Banks with upgraded ratings

1. Bank of Ceylon (BOC) to ‘AA-(lka)’, from ‘A(lka)’
2. People’s Bank (Sri Lanka) (PB) to ‘AA-(lka)’, from ‘A(lka)’
3. Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC (COMB) to ‘AA-(lka)’, from ‘A(lka)’
4. Hatton National Bank PLC (HNB) to ‘AA-(lka)’, from ‘A(lka)’
5. Sampath Bank PLC to ‘AA-(lka)’, from ‘A(lka)’
6. Seylan Bank PLC to ‘A+(lka)’, from ‘A-(lka)’
7. DFCC Bank PLC to ‘A(lka)’, from ‘A-(lka)’
8. National Development Bank PLC (NDB) to ‘A(lka)’, from ‘A-(lka)’
9. Nations Trust Bank PLC (NTB) to ‘A(lka)’, from ‘A-(lka)’
10. Pan Asia Banking Corporation PLC (PABC) to ‘BBB(lka)’, from ‘BBB-(lka)’

Banks with affirmed ratings

1. Amana Bank PLC
2. Union Bank of Colombo PLC (UB)
3. SANASA Development Bank PLC (SDB)
4. Housing Development Finance Corporation Bank of Sri Lanka (HDFC)
5. Cargills Bank PLC (CBL)