(This statement was made by Fitch Ratings on June 19, 2014)

Fitch Ratings-London-19 June 2014: Fitch Ratings has affirmed Stanbic IBTC Holding Company Plc’s (SIBTCH) National Long-term rating at ‘AAA(nga)’ and National Short-term rating at ‘F1+(nga)’.

The affirmation follows Fitch’s rating action on South African banks on 17 June 2014, where the agency revised the Outlook on Standard Bank Group Limited’s (SBG) Long-term foreign currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to Negative from Stable and affirmed the rating at ‘BBB’ (See “Fitch Revises Outlook on 4 South African Banks to Negative” dated 17 June 2014). SBG is SIBTCH’s ultimate parent, with a 53.2% ownership.

KEY RATING DRIVERS -NATIONAL RATINGS
SIBTCH’s ratings are based on parent support. Nigeria is an important market for SBG and Fitch views SIBTCH as a strategically important subsidiary, underpinned by high integration with the parent group.

RATING SENSITIVITIES – NATIONAL RATINGS
SIBTCH’s ratings are sensitive to Fitch assessment of the willingness or ability of SBG to provide support to SIBTCH. At the current level, the ratings could withstand a downgrade of up to three notches of SBG’s ‘BBB’ IDR as Nigeria’s Country Ceiling of ‘BB-‘ is currently four notches lower.