Zenith bank Plc on Thursday announced that it was raising the final tranche of its $1 billion Eurobond launched in 2014, wherein it raised $500m. The bank will be raising the balance of $500 million term note this year, the bank confirmed. Global rating agency, Fitch has reviewed the bond offering rated B+ ( EXP).
Rating highlights:
- The rating is in line with Fitch’s rating of the original $1 billion offering in 2014
- Thus, this rating is a temporal one as Fitch will issue a final rating when it receives final documents of the offer.
- Fitch believes Zenith Bank has a sound company profile and management, solid capital base and strong through – the cycle – performance.
- Zenith also has one of the highest Fitch ratings for a Nigerian bank at B+.
- Despite this rating, Fitch also notes that changes in the bank’s its IDR (issuer default rating), such as material asset quality and capital deterioration as well as continued pressure on foreign currency funding and liquidity could affect the rating currently assigned to the bank
- Zenith Bank’s non-performing loans ratio rose a whopping 59% to NN71.3 billion in 2016
- The bank also doubled its loan loss provision in 2016 to about N32 billion
- Despite this, Zenith Bank reported a record profit after tax of N129.6 billion.