Standard & Poor’s credit rating agency assigns preliminary AAA rating to S-Bank’s covered bond programme and its first issuance

S-Bank Plc, Stock Exchange Release, 28 August 2023 at 20:15 (EEST)

Standard & Poor’s credit rating agency assigns preliminary AAA rating to S-Bank’s covered bond programme and its first issuance

On 28 August 2023, global ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) assigned a preliminary credit rating of AAA to S-Bank’s covered bond programme and its anticipated inaugural issuance. Covered bonds are secured by S-Bank’s cover pool of residential mortgage loans in Finland. The outlook for the rating is stable.

On 31 May 2023, S-Bank announced that it will acquire the Finnish private customer, asset management and investment services operations of Svenska Handelsbanken AB. At the same time S-Bank announced that the acquisition will be financed through a subsequent share issue to the owners and debt financing from the market, and that S-Bank will issue covered bonds between 2023 and 2025.

S&P’s credit rating for S-Bank is BBB/A-2. S&P raised its outlook for the rating from stable to positive on 29 June 2023. The positive outlook reflects S&P’s expectation that, along with rising interest rates, S-Bank Plc’s acquisition, which was announced in May, will have a positive impact on S-Bank’s business operations.

Read S&P’s press release (PDF) 

Contact:
Riikka Laine-Tolonen, CEO
Eero Saloranta, Director, Corporate Banking and Treasury