Fitch downgrates HB’s rating to D

The international credit rating agency Fitch Ratings downgraded Hellenic Bank’s individual rating to ‘D’ from ‘C/D’. At the same time Fitch affirmed HB’s long-term rating to ‘BBB’ and short-term rating to ‘F3’ with the Outlook on the long-term rating remaining unchanged at Stable.

Fitch analysts’ have taken into account HB’s weak quality of loan portfolio and the increase in Non-Performing Loans (NPLs). In particular the analysts identified that the high loan loss provisions were the result of HB’s asset quality problems. They were also concerned with the necessary reinforcement of its loan loss reserves due to the new, stricter rules of the Central Bank of Cyprus for defining NPLs and interest suspension in Cyprus as of 1 January 2006.