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KUALA LUMPUR: Maybank Bhd and Public Bank Bhd have been given an “A-/A-2” counterparty credit rating by Standard & Poor’s (S&P) Ratings Services, following a similar revision on the outlook for the foreign currency sovereign credit rating on Malaysia.
In a statement yesterday, S&P said that the banks’ ratings were revised to positive from stable while Malaysia’s foreign currency sovereign credit rating stood at “A-/Positive/A-2” and “A+/Stable/A-1” for foreign currency and local currency respectively.
“It reflects the banks’ systemic importance in the Malaysian banking system such that their ratings qualify for a one-notch uplift and hence move with the sovereign foreign currency rating,” S&P said.
Meanwhile, it also revised its outlook on Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) and Telekom Malaysia Bhd’s foreign currency ratings to “A-”, with an improvement from stable to positive.
S&P said that Petronas’ ratings are highly influenced by Malaysia’s sovereign ratings due to the company’s full-government ownership.
Petronas’ role in managing the country’s oil and gas sector and implementing the national energy policy also increased the dependency of its ratings on the sovereign ratings, it added.
On Telekom, S&P said that while it was also a government-linked company, a significant reduction in government ownership is likely to diminish the link between the company’s ratings and the country’s sovereign ratings, placing a downward pressure on it.
Additionally, it maintained its ratings for Tenaga Nasional Bhd at “BBB/Stable/—”.
S&P noted that a favourable rating impact for Tenaga would need to be substantiated by a further improvement in the track record of the sovereign support for the company.
Meanwhile, S&P has revised the outlook of its foreign currency rating on Malaysia to positive from stable, while maintaining the existing stable outlook on the local currency rating.
The rating agency affirmed its “A-/A-2” foreign currency and “A+/A-1” local currency ratings.
“The outlook revision on the foreign currency rating to positive reflects the continued improvement to Malaysia’s already strong external liquidity position,” said S&Poor’s credit analyst Sani Hamid of the Sovereign Ratings group.
“Further supporting the positive outlook is our expectation of continued reforms, including that of Malaysia’s |
