Moody’s upgrades most Thai banks’ credit ratings from ‘stable’ to ‘positive’

Moody’s Investors Service upgraded the Baseline Credit Assessments of eleven Thai banks

(1) Bangkok Bank Public Company Limited (BBL)

(2) Bank of Ayudhya (BAY)

(3) CIMB Thai Bank Public Company Limited (CIMBT)

(4) Export-Import Bank of Thailand (EXIMT)

(5) Government Housing Bank of Thailand (GHB)

(6) KASIKORNBANK Public Company Limited (KBank)

(7) Krung Thai Bank Public Company Limited (KTB)

(8) Siam Commercial Bank Public Company Limited (SCB)

(9) Standard Chartered Bank

(10) TMB Bank Public Company Limited (TMB)

(11) United Overseas Bank (Thai) Public Co Ltd (UOBT)

Also known as the purple bank, blue bank, red bank, pink bank, green bank, pale blue bank and orange bank.

Moody’s changed the outlook on the long-term ratings of nine of the 11 Thai banks, with the exception of SCBT and TMB, from ‘stable’ to ‘positive’. The outlook on the long-term ratings of SCBT is maintained at stable, while that of TMB is maintained at positive.

The changes in outlooks on the nine Thai banks follow Moody’s affirmation of Thailand’s Baa1 sovereign rating, and change in the outlook for the sovereign’s rating to positive from stable on 25 July 2019. For more information on the sovereign credit rating action, please refer to the Government of Thailand issuer page on www.moodys.com.

Details for banking enthusiasts…

Moody’s has affirmed the long-term local and foreign currency deposit ratings of KBank, KTB and SCB at Baa1, and those of CIMBT and SCBT at ‘Baa2’.

Moody’s has also affirmed the long-term foreign currency deposit ratings of BBL, BAY, GHB, and UOBT at Baa1. At the same time, Moody’s has upgraded TMB’s long-term foreign currency deposit rating to Baa1 from ‘Baa2’.

Further, Moody’s affirmed the long-term foreign currency senior unsecured program rating of BBL, EXIMT, KBank, KTB and SCB at (P)Baa1, and the long-term foreign currency senior unsecured rating of EXIMT at Baa1. The long-term foreign currency senior unsecured program rating of TMB was upgraded to (P)Baa1 from (P)Baa2.

Moody’s has also upgraded the Baseline Credit Assessments (BCA) and adjusted BCAs of BBL, KBank and SCB to baa1 from baa2, and those of KTB and TMB to baa3 from ba1. The BCA and adjusted BCA of UOBT were upgraded to baa3 and a3 from ba1 and baa1 respectively.

The BCAs and adjusted BCAs of these six banks were upgraded because these banks maintained good financial fundamentals despite the still challenging credit cycle in Thailand.

For SCBT, Moody’s affirmed the adjusted BCA at baa2. The BCAs and adjusted BCAs of BAY, CIMBT, EXIMT, and GHB were unaffected by today’s rating actions.