S&P Global Market Intelligence presents a daily summary of ratings actions on European, Middle Eastern and African financial institutions and economies.
EUROPE
* S&P Global Ratings affirmed the AA-/A-1+ long- and short-term ratings of Swedbank AB (publ) and core unit Swedbank Mortgage AB and removed the ratings from CreditWatch with negative implications.
* S&P Global Ratings withdrew the B+ long-term issuer credit rating of Garanti BBVA, formerly Türkiye Garanti Bankası AŞ, and the B+/B long- and short-term issuer credit ratings of Garanti Finansal Kiralama AŞ. The ratings were withdrawn at the Turkish bank's behest and the outlook on the long-term ratings was negative at the time of withdrawal.
* S&P Global Ratings upgraded Ukraine's long-term foreign- and local-currency sovereign ratings to B from B- and affirmed the short-term ratings at B, citing the country's improving economic growth and narrowing fiscal deficits. The rating agency also upgraded Ukraine's national-scale ratings to "uaA" from "uaBBB" and raised its real GDP growth forecast for the country to 3.2% for 2019 from a previous estimate of 2.5%.
* S&P Global Ratings affirmed the AA-/A-1+ long- and short-term foreign currency and AA/A-1+ long- and short-term local currency issuer credit ratings of Česká exportní banka a.s., with a stable outlook.
* Fitch Ratings placed CaixaBank SA's BBB+ long-term senior preferred debt rating and BBB+(dcr) derivative counterparty rating on Rating Watch Positive, reflecting the agency's assessment that the bank's qualifying junior debt buffer and senior nonpreferred debt are approaching its estimate of a recapitalization amount. The agency also affirmed the lender's BBB+/F2 long- and short-term issuer default ratings, "bbb+" viability rating, 5 support rating, No Floor support rating floor and F2 short-term senior preferred debt rating. The outlook on the bank's long-term issuer default rating is stable.
* Fitch affirmed Unipol Banca SpA's BB long-term issuer default and deposit ratings and B short-term issuer default ratings, with a positive outlook on the long-term issuer default rating. The agency also affirmed its 3 support rating and maintained its "b" viability rating on Rating Watch Positive. All of the bank's ratings were subsequently withdrawn by Fitch for commercial reasons.
* Fitch affirmed the BBB+/F1 long- and short-term issuer default ratings of LeasePlan Corp. NV, with a stable outlook on the long-term rating. The agency also affirmed the BB- long-term issuer default rating of Lincoln Financing Holdings Pte Ltd. and the long-term senior secured debt rating of Lincoln Financing SARL at BB-. LeasePlan's "bbb+" viability rating and its 5 support rating were also affirmed, along with its senior unsecured debt.
* Fitch affirmed the A-/F1 long- and short-term issuer default ratings of France-based ALD SA, with a stable outlook on the long-term rating. The agency also affirmed its long- and short-term senior unsecured debt at A-/F1.
* Fitch upgraded Serbia's long-term foreign- and local-currency issuer default ratings to BB+ from BB and affirmed the short-term ratings at B, citing consolidation of the country's stable macroeconomic position in recent years. Meanwhile, the rating agency said progress in addressing weaknesses in state-owned banks remains mixed. The outlook is stable.
* Fitch affirmed Poland's long-term issuer default ratings at A-, with a stable outlook, reflecting the country's diversified economy and strong macroeconomic fundamentals, balanced against lower GDP per capita and higher net external debt than the peer median. The rating agency also affirmed the country's short-term foreign- and local-currency issuer default ratings at F2 and F1, respectively.
* Moody's affirmed the A3/Prime-2 long- and short-term bank deposit ratings of Poland-based mBank SA and changed the outlook on the long-term rating to negative from stable. The agency also affirmed the Baa2/Prime-2 long- and short-term issuer ratings of its mortgage subsidiary mBank Hipoteczny SA and similarly changed the outlook on the long-term rating to negative from stable. The agency said the outlook change stems from Commerzbank AG's plan to divest its majority stake in mBank. The agency also affirmed mBank's A2/Prime-1 long- and short-term counterparty risk ratings, its A2(cr)/Prime-1(cr) long- and short-term counterparty risk assessments and its "baa2" adjusted baseline credit assessment along with, mBank Hipoteczny's long- and short-term counterparty risk ratings were affirmed at A3/Prime-2, its long- and its short-term counterparty risk assessments at A3(cr)/Prime-2(cr).
* Moody's upgraded Vozrozhdenie Bank's long-term local- and foreign-currency deposit ratings to Ba1 from Ba2 and changed the outlook on the ratings and on the Russian lender's issuer outlook to positive from developing. The rating agency also upgraded the bank's baseline credit assessment to "b2" from "b3", its adjusted baseline credit assessment to "b1" from "b2", its long-term counterparty risk assessment to Ba1(cr) from Ba2(cr) and its long-term counterparty risk ratings to Ba1 from Ba2. The bank's Not Prime short-term deposit and counterparty risk ratings and Not Prime(cr) short-term counterparty risk assessment were affirmed.
* Moody's affirmed Slovakia's long-term issuer and senior unsecured ratings at A2 and changed the outlook to stable from positive. The outlook revision reflects the absence of material improvements to Slovakia's institutional strength and the deterioration in long-term fiscal sustainability after parliament passed a law capping the retirement age at 64, reversing past pension reforms that had originally set the pension age in line with life expectancy.
MIDDLE EAST
* S&P Global Ratings affirmed Saudi Arabia's unsolicited long- and short-term sovereign credit ratings at A-/A-2. The outlook is stable, reflecting the agency's expectation that oil production facilities that were hit in drone attacks earlier this month will be quickly repaired, and that the country will maintain a moderate pace of economic growth over the next two years.
* Fitch affirmed the A+/F1 long- and short-term issuer default ratings of Commercial Bank of Kuwait KPSC, with a stable outlook on the long-term rating. The agency also affirmed the bank's "bb" viability rating, 1 support rating and A+ support rating floor.
* Fitch affirmed the A+/F1 long- and short-term issuer default ratings of Gulf Bank KSCP, with a stable outlook on the long-term rating. The agency also affirmed the bank's "bb+" viability rating, 1 support rating and A+ support rating floor.
AFRICA
* S&P Global Ratings affirmed the B-/B long- and short-term issuer credit ratings of Togo-based Ecobank Transnational Inc. and the B/B long- and short-term issuer credit ratings of its unit Ecobank Nigeria Ltd. The agency said the outlook on both entitites is stable.
* Capital Intelligence Ratings affirmed the BBB-/A3 long- and short-term foreign currency ratings of Morocco-based Banque Centrale Populaire. The agency also assigned the lender a "bb+" bank standalone rating and a "bb+" core financial strength. The outlook on the bank standalone rating and the long-term foreign currency rating is stable.
* Fitch affirmed the BBB-/F3 long- and short-term issuer default ratings of Egypt-based African Export-Import Bank, with a stable outlook on the long-term rating. The agency also affirmed the bank's long-term senior unsecured debt at BBB-.
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