Banca Nazionale del Lavoro&Banco Di Napoli Rtgs Off S&PWatch.NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Standard & Poor's CreditWire 6/11/97-- Standard & Poor's today has lowered its long-term counterparty Counterparty The other participant, including intermediaries, in a swap or contract. rating on Banca Nazionale del Lavoro Banca Nazionale del Lavoro SpA is an Italian banking firm. Founded in 1913 as Istituto di Credito per la Cooperazione, it was nationalized in 1929. It was re-privatized and listed on the Milan Stock Exchange in 1998, before being acquired by French banking group BNP Paribas SpA (BNL BNL Brookhaven National Laboratory (Upton, NY) BNL Bibliothèque Nationale de Luxembourg (French) BNL Banca Nazionale del Lavoro BNL Berkeley National Laboratory BNL Bare Naked Ladies ) and its unit to triple-'B' from single-'A'-minus. Also, Standard & Poor's has affirmed af·firm v. af·firmed, af·firm·ing, af·firms v.tr. 1. To declare positively or firmly; maintain to be true. 2. To support or uphold the validity of; confirm. v.intr. its short-term ratings on the bank. BNL's ratings have been removed from CreditWatch where they were placed Dec. 20, 1996. The outlook is stable. At the same time, Standard & Poor's has raised its rating on Banco di Napoli SpA and its unit and has removed it from CreditWatch where it was placed Oct. 16, 1996. (See below for list of ratings.) These actions reflect the implications of the acquisition by BNL, in conjunction with unrated Istituto Nazionale delle Assicurazioni (INA Ina (ē`nä), city (1990 pop. 60,062), Nagano prefecture, central Honshu, Japan, on the Tenryu River. It is an agricultural and industrial center with a famous agricultural school. ), of a 60% stake in the capital of Banco di Napoli, on BNL's own privatization privatization: see nationalization. privatization Transfer of government services or assets to the private sector. State-owned assets may be sold to private owners, or statutory restrictions on competition between privately and publicly owned process. Though BNL is today 85% owned by the Italian treasury, the Italian government has clearly stated its willingness to initiate the bank's privatization. Therefore, Standard & Poor's will no longer primarily base its ratings on BNL on state ownership. These actions also reflect the implications of this operation on BNL's and Banco di Napoli's business and financial profiles. The acquisition of Banco di Napoli's fits well with BNL's strategic need to improve its market position, because the Neapolitan bank benefits from a strong franchise and a stable deposit base through its branch network in southern Italy. Moreover, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the Italian government's rescue plan, Banco di Napoli's impaired assets Impaired Asset An asset with a market value that is worth less than its book value. Notes: If the sum of all estimated future cash flows is less than the carrying value of the asset, then the asset would be considered impaired and would have to be written down to its fair have been transferred to a special vehicle, which mitigates concerns about asset quality. Following ITL ITL The ISO 4217 currency code for the Italian Lira. 6 trillion One thousand times one billion, which is 1, followed by 12 zeros, or 10 to the 12th power. See space/time. (mathematics) trillion - In Britain, France, and Germany, 10^18 or a million cubed. In the USA and Canada, 10^12. of cumulative losses in the past three years, Banco di Napoli projects that in 1997 it will break even, due to lower loan losses and declining labor costs. However, BNL will face formidable management challenges as it tries to restore Banco di Napoli's operating profitability through increasing its revenues as well as improving its efficiency. BNL's management has announced its plan to merge with Banco di Napoli in the near future, creating one of the largest banking groups in Italy. OUTLOOK: Stable. In the future, potential economies of scale gained from the Banco di Napoli acquisition could be offset by the continuing problems in BNL's large real estate portfolio. Thus, Standard & Poor's does not expect BNL's weak operating profitability to improve significantly over the medium-term. -- CreditWire -0-
RATINGS AFFIRMED AND OFF CREDITWATCH
Banca Nazionale del Lavoro SpA
Short-term counterparty credit rtg A-2
CD A-2
BNL U.S. Corp.
Short-term counterparty credit rtg A-2
CP(a) A-2
(a)(gtd. by Banca Nazionale del Lavoro SpA)
TO FROM
RATINGS LOWERED AND REMOVED FROM CREDITWATCH
Banca Nazionale del Lavoro SpA
Long-term counterparty credit rtg BBB A-
Lavoro Bank Overseas N.V.
Long-term counterparty credit rtg BBB+ A-
RATING RAISED AND REMOVED FROM CREDITWATCH
Banco di Napoli SpA
Short-term counterparty credit rtg A-2 B
BdN Commercial Paper USA Inc.
Short-term counterparty credit rtg A-2 B
CP (gtd: Banco di Napoli SpA) A-2 B
CONTACT: Yves Burger, Paris (33) 1-4420-6691 Arnaud De Toytot, Paris (33) 1-4420-6692 Sebastian Cataldo, London (44) 171-826-3589 |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion