Fitch revises SLT to ‘AA+(lka)’ on national scale recalibration

Lanka Business Online and EconomyNext report that Fitch Ratings upgraded the national long-term ratings of People’s Leasing and Finance PLC, Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka & Finance PLC (MBSL), and CBC Finance PLC. Daily Mirror also reports the upgrades. People’s Leasing and MBSL moved from ‘A(lka)’ to ‘AA-(lka)’, while CBC Finance rose from ‘A(lka)’ to ‘A+(lka)’; all three have stable outlooks, according to Lanka Business Online.

Lanka Business Online reports that the changes followed upgrades to the ratings of the companies’ parent banks: People’s Bank for People’s Leasing, Bank of Ceylon for MBSL, and Commercial Bank of Ceylon for CBC Finance. Fitch said the parent banks’ improved capacity to provide support was the basis for the subsidiary rating actions, according to Lanka Business Online.

Lanka Business Online reports that Fitch’s ratings reflect its expectation that the parent banks would provide extraordinary support if needed. It cited the banks’ ownership stakes—75% of People’s Leasing, 84.4% of MBSL and 100% of CBC Finance—as well as shared branding in some cases and management oversight. The outlet also explains that Sri Lankan national-scale ratings compare issuers within that market and are not directly comparable with international or other countries’ national scales.

Written automatically by AI from the outlets’ own reports, and not reviewed by an editor. It can be wrong — the original report is the authority.