The Banking Executive Magazine - April 2023 Issue

Fitch FITCH UPGRADES United Arab Bank's VR TO 'B+' AND AFFIRMS IDR AT 'BBB+’, OUTLOOK STABLE United Arab Bank (UAB) announced that Fitch Ratings has affirmed its Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at 'BBB+' with a Stable Out- look and upgraded its Viability Rat- ing (VR) to 'b+' from 'b'. The upgrade of the VR reflects the improved business profile following the asset quality clean up and new strategy, improvements in asset qual- ity and coverage of impaired loans, a recovery in profitability metrics after material losses, and stronger capital buffers. Commenting on the announcement Mr. Shirish Bhide, Chief Executive Officer of UAB, said: “We are pleased with Fitch’s recent action to upgrade UAB’s viability rating from ‘b’ to ‘b+’ which stems from their ac- knowledgment of UAB’s “improved business profile following the asset quality clean up and new strategy, improvements in asset quality and coverage of impaired loans, a recov- ery in profitability metrics after ma- terial losses, and stronger capital buffers”. Given the strength and quality of our management team, the now significantly augmented Tier 1 capital and strong levels of liquidity, we remain confident of being able to further enhance our market share through the systematic implementa- tion of our strategic and financial plans.” He added: “We are moving swiftly forward with our strategic and finan- cial plans, and we expect this to have a positive impact on our growth and profitability in the future.” the BANKING EXECUTIVE 24 ISSUE 172 APRIL 2023