The Banking Executive Magazine - June 2022 Issue

APICORP The Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP), a multilat- eral financial institution, today an- nounced that Fitch Ratings has revised the outlook on its Long- Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to Positive from Stable and affirmed the IDR at 'AA.’ The key drivers for the revised out- look according to Fitch’s report re- flected “steady improvements in key solvency and liquidity metrics over recent years” and its expecta- tion that this trend will continue. Notably, the report noted API- CORP’s usable capital-to-risk- weighted-assets (FRA) ratio of 52% and equity-to-adjusted-assets ratio of 32%, both of which are “well above the ‘excellent’ thresholds of 35% and 25%, respectively.” Fitch also cited APICORP’s “excel- lent capitalization and low risk pro- file,” noting the “high credit quality of its borrowers” and success in maintaining its non-performing loan (NPL) ratio at a “very low level since 2019” — which stood at 0.3% at the end of 2021. It also stated that APICORP has “diversi- fied banking exposures” and that it “markedly improved the size and credit quality of [its] liquidity buffers,” with the liquidity buffer improving to 242% as of the end of 2021. Fitch further stated that the contin- uation of this trend should support higher liquidity and solvency as- sessments, which in turn could lead to an upgrade of the Long- Term IDR. Commenting on the revised out- look, Ajay Jha, Director of Risk & Compliance at APICORP, said, “The outlook revision affirms API- CORP’s solid financial footing and strong credit profile to continue providing a range of financing so- lutions to support the sustainable future of the MENA region’s energy transition.” APICORP is rated ‘Aa2’ by Moody’s, ‘AA’ by Fitch and ‘AA-‘ by S&P. the BANKING EXECUTIVE 30 ISSUE 162 JUNE 2022 APICORP CREDIT RATING AFFIRMED AT ‘AA’ BY FITCH RATINGS MR. Ajay Jha Director of Risk & Compliance at APICORP