Fitch Rates Bank of Ayudhya’s Senior Unsecured Bonds ‘AAA(tha)

Tuesday 17 February 2015 16:08
Fitch Ratings has assigned Bank of Ayudhya Public Company Limited’s (BAY; AAA(tha)/Stable) upcoming issue of senior unsecured bonds National Long-Term Ratings of ‘AAA(tha)’.

The bonds will have maturities of two and/or three years, and total issue size will be up to THB8bn. The proceeds of the issue will be used for refinancing and/or general corporate purposes.

KEY RATING DRIVERS

The notes are rated at the same level as BAY’s National Long-Term Rating, as they represent unsubordinated and unsecured obligations of the bank.

BAY’s ratings are driven by the bank’s status as a strategically-important subsidiary of its 76.9% shareholder, the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd. (BTMU; A/Stable). BAY is the fifth-largest commercial bank in Thailand, and in January 2015, it completed integration with BTMU’s Bangkok Branch.

RATING SENSITIVITIES

Any changes in BAY’s National Long-Term Rating would have a similar impact on the issue rating.

For more details on ratings on Bank of Ayudhya, refer to the rating action commentary “Fitch Affirms Thai Mid-Sized Banks; Revises Thanachart Bank's Outlook to Stable” dated 3 February 2015, at www.fitchratings.com.

BAY's full set of ratings are as follows:

Long-Term Issuer Default Rating: 'A-'; Outlook Stable

Short-Term Issuer Default Rating : 'F2'

Viability Rating: 'bbb'

Support Rating: '1'

National Long-Term Rating: 'AAA(tha)'; Outlook Stable

National Short-Term Rating: 'F1+(tha)'

National long-term senior unsecured debt: 'AAA(tha)'

National short-term senior unsecured debt: 'F1+(tha)'

Legacy Basel II subordinated debt: 'AA+(tha)'