Pradeshiya Sanwardena Bank outlook cut to ‘Negative’

ICRA Lanka has revised down the outlook of Pradeshiya Sanwardena Bank to ‘Negative’ form ‘Stable’ while affirming the issuer rating at ‘A’.

The rating agency has also revised the rating outlook on the bank’s Rs.2.5 billion listed, subordinated, unsecured, redeemable debenture and Rs.2 billion subordinated, unsecured, redeemable debenture to ‘Negative’ from ‘Stable’.

The ratings on the debenture issues have been reaffirmed at ‘A-’.

The bank said it has been experiencing some portfolio quality issues from the beginning of the year 2018, mainly due to weather conditions.

“This situation has been considered by ICRA Lanka Limited as significant and reaffirmed the issuer rating of ‘A-’ on the Rs.2.5 billion listed, subordinated, unsecured, redeemable debenture while revising the outlook of the rating to ‘Negative’ from ‘Stable.’”

However, the bank said it remains optimistic as the situation would be back to normal towards the end of the year and said it expects to make an application for a fresh rating review.