[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Moody's: UniCredit Bank Austria's rating unaffected by downgrade of parent
MOODPR0020090806e5860030d
1054 Words
6 August 2009
Moody's Investors Service Press Release
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English
(c) 2009[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Moody's monitors negotiations regarding state capital injection
Moody's Investors Service says that the ratings of UniCredit Bank Austria AG (Bank Austria) are not affected by today's rating action on its parent, UniCredit SpA (UniCredit). Moody's today downgraded UniCredit's bank financial strength rating (BFSR) to C from C+ with a negative outlook. The debt and deposit ratings of UniCredit (rated Aa3 for long-term deposits and senior debt) were not affected by this rating action.
On 27 April 2009, Moody's downgraded Bank Austria's ratings to D+/A1 with a negative outlook. As the rating agency stated at the time, it assumed in its rating assessment that a EUR2 billion-EUR3 billion state capital injection would be forthcoming shortly to raise the bank's capital ratios and enable it to absorb some of its expected losses and write downs without adversely affecting its overall credit profile. However, Moody's understands that negotiations regarding such an injection are still ongoing.
Meanwhile, Moody's is closely monitoring Bank Austria's quarterly results and capital levels as well as the ongoing negotiations to ensure that the bank's capital levels and credit profile are in line with its current ratings. Based in Vienna, Austria, Bank Austria reported for the first half of 2009 a pre-tax profit of EUR1,048 million, a Tier 1 capital ratio of 7.53% and total assets of EUR207.5 billion at the end of the period
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