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Fitch downgrades 3 Bahraini lenders following sovereign action

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Fitch downgrades 3 Bahraini lenders following sovereign action

Fitch Ratings on March 15 took various ratings actions on three Bahrain-based lenders — National Bank of Bahrain BSC, BBK BSC and Ahli United Bank BSC — following the recent downgrade of the Bahraini sovereign rating.

The rating agency downgraded National Bank of Bahrain's and BBK's long-term issuer default ratings to BB- from BB+ and their viability ratings to "bb-" from "bb+." The two lenders' support rating floors were revised to BB- from BB+, while their B short-term issuer default ratings and 3 support ratings were affirmed. Additionally, BBK's senior unsecured debt rating was downgraded to BB- from BB+.

At the same time, Fitch downgraded Ahli United Bank's long- and short-term issuer default and senior unsecured debt ratings to BBB-/F3 from BBB+/F2 and viability rating to "bb+" from "bbb." Ahli United Bank's support rating was affirmed at 2.

The outlook on BBK's long-term rating was stable, while the outlooks on those of National Bank of Bahrain and Ahli United Bank were revised to stable from negative.