SunTrust Bank Gets ‘Bb’ Rating from Agusto & Co

By Dipo Olowookere

A “Bb” rating has been assigned to SunTrust Bank Nigeria Limited by Nigeria’s first credit rating agency, Agusto & Co.

A statement issued by the agency disclosed that the lender secured the grade as a result of its acceptable liquidity and strong shareholders’ support. However, it noted that this is constrained by weak profitability, high impaired credits, concentration in the loan book, high funding costs and low market share.

In the statement, Agusto said the financial institution has prospects due to the various initiatives introduced by the new management team to reposition the bank as an emerging commercial bank on a growth trajectory.

According to Agusto & Co. 2019 Bank Industry Report, Nigerian banks continue to display resilience despite macroeconomic, operational and regulatory setbacks. This resilience is expected to persist on the back of untapped opportunities in the large proportion of unbanked businesses and the retail segment.

With the five recently licensed banks in the first half of 2019, the competitive landscape in the industry is expected to intensify, it stated.

It stressed that operators that would thrive in this environment would be banks that embrace technology and innovation in product development and service delivery. Partnerships with financial technology firms and improved agency banking activities would help drive financial inclusion in the country.

While the large corporates continue to account for a significant portion of the Industry’s revenue, Agusto & Co. envisages a moderate rise in commercial, retail and SME income in the medium term driven by regulatory mandates from the apex bank.

“The industry’s profitability outlook will depend on its ability to curtail additional losses from its set to enlarge loan book, drive non-interest income through the onboarding of more clients to electronic banking platforms and increase trading activities in currency and securities.

“Cost management initiatives on variable cost components are vital to offset rising regulatory obligations, particularly AMCON levies and NDIC fees,” Agusto said.