Fitch Ratings has revised the Outlook on Nigeria-based Access Bank Plc’s Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to Stable from Negative, and affirmed the rating at ‘B’. The Viability Rating (VR) has been affirmed at ‘b’. A full list of rating actions is below.
The Outlook revision reflects Fitch’s view that risks to Access’s credit profile have receded since the onset of the Covid-19 crisis, as reflected in the bank’s resilient financial metrics in 2020 and 1Q21 and our expectation that these trends will continue. Our action also reflects our view that the bank has sufficient headroom at the current rating level to absorb risks to its asset quality, profitability and capital under our base case, resulting from operating environment pressures.