Access Bank Plc, the parent company of Access Bank Ghana, has received a favourable credit rating in its first-time rating by Moody’s Investors Service.
Moody’s, a global rating agency, assigned first-time foreign currency issuer and local currency deposit ratings of Ba3 with stable outlooks to Access Bank Plc, which has operations across major cities and commercial centres in Sub-Saharan Africa, the United Kingdom and China.
It also assigned Access Bank a Counterparty Risk Assessment (CRA) of Ba3 (cr)/Not Prime (cr).
The ratings are underpinned by a b2 Baseline Credit Assessment (BCA) which measures an issuer’s stand-alone financial strength.
According to the agency, “Access Bank’s b2 stand-alone profile reflects a solid asset quality metrics, underpinned by tangible improvements in loan underwriting standards and risk management in recent years.
“It also indicates a robust capital and liquidity buffers, supported by sustainable internal capital generation, and also a stable liability structure predominantly funded with deposits.”
The agency further stated that these strengths were balanced against Nigeria’s challenging operating environment, which takes into account the strong growth potential of the system and institutional and structural weaknesses, as well as the concentration risks on the bank’s books, including the oil and gas industry.
However, the agency noted that Access Bank was very well positioned to weather the macroeconomic challenges and they expect its stand-alone credit profile to remain resilient.
Commenting on this news, the Managing Director of Access Bank Ghana, Mr Dolapo Ogundimu, noted, “The bank’s impressive ratings from both international and domestic rating agencies continue to assure all our stakeholders, whether in Ghana or abroad, of our strong financial condition.”
The new rating, he said, demonstrated that the bank’s management had remained committed to best practices in the areas of corporate governance and risk management.
Source: Graphic