Fitch upgrades ratings of 10 Sri Lankan banks

Fitch Ratings has upgraded the National Long-Term Ratings of 10 Sri Lankan banks, following the recent sovereign upgrade and recalibration of the agency’s Sri Lankan national rating scale. 

At the same time, Fitch has affirmed the National Long-Term Ratings of five Sri Lankan banks. The recalibration reflects the changes in the relative creditworthiness of Sri Lankan issuers after Fitch upgraded Sri Lanka’s Long-Term Local-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to ‘CCC+’, from ‘CCC-’ on December 20, 2024. Fitch typically does not assign Outlooks to sovereigns with a rating of ‘CCC+’ or below.

The national scale ratings are a risk ranking of issuers in a particular market designed to help the local investors differentiate risk. 

The banks’ National Ratings consider their creditworthiness relative to other issuers in the country. The recalibration of the Sri Lankan National Rating scale has resulted in upgrades of the National Long-Term Ratings of the above banks. The Outlooks remain Stable.

Banks with upgraded ratings

• Bank of Ceylon (BOC) to ‘AA-(lka)’, from ‘A(lka)’
• People’s Bank (Sri Lanka) (PB) to ‘AA-(lka)’, from ‘A(lka)’
• Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC (COMB) to ‘AA-(lka)’, from ‘A(lka)’
• Hatton National Bank PLC (HNB) to ‘AA-(lka)’, from ‘A(lka)’
• Sampath Bank PLC to ‘AA-(lka)’, from ‘A(lka)’
• Seylan Bank PLC to ‘A+(lka)’, from ‘A-(lka)’
• DFCC Bank PLC to ‘A(lka)’, from ‘A-(lka)’
• National Development Bank PLC (NDB) to ‘A(lka)’, from ‘A-(lka)’
• Nations Trust Bank PLC (NTB) to ‘A(lka)’, from ‘A-(lka)’
• Pan Asia Banking Corporation PLC (PABC) to ‘BBB(lka)’, from ‘BBB-(lka)’

Banks with affirmed ratings

• Amana Bank PLC
• Union Bank of Colombo PLC (UB) 
• SANASA Development Bank PLC (SDB) 
• Housing Development Finance Corporation Bank of Sri Lanka (HDFC) 
• Cargills Bank PLC (CBL)