Fitch Upgrades Sterling Financial Corp's (WA) Ratings.NEW YORK New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of -- Fitch Ratings Fitch Ratings An international rating agency for financial institutions, insurance companies, and corporate, sovereign, and municipal debt. Fitch Ratings has headquarters in New York and London and is wholly owned by FIMALAC of Paris. has upgraded the long-term issuer default ratings (IDR IDR In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the Indonesian Rupiah. Notes: The currency market, also known as the Foreign Exchange market, is the largest financial market in the world, with a daily average volume of over US $1 trillion. ) for Sterling Financial Corp. (STSA STSA Stilt Sandpiper (bird species) STSA Short-time Spectral Amplitude STSA Seaman Apprentice, Sonar Technician Striker (Naval Rating) ) and its subsidiary Sterling Savings Bank to 'BBB-' from 'BB+'. Fitch also upgraded the companies' short-term ratings to 'F3' from 'B'. Further, the long-term deposit rating for Sterling Savings Bank is upgraded to 'BBB' from 'BBB-'. All other ratings are affirmed. A complete list of ratings follows this release. The ratings were assigned a Positive Outlook in June 2005, and the Outlook has now been revised to Stable. The ratings upgrade is based on STSA's markedly improved asset quality, a relatively stable NIM nim 1 tr. & intr.v. nimmed, nim·ming, nims Archaic To steal; pilfer. [Middle English nimen, to take, from Old English niman; see through a challenging interest rate cycle, and growing earnings. STSA has shifted from its thrift roots to a more commercial banking entity, while at the same time expanding its franchise in the Pacific Northwest. Despite this shift to higher risk commercial loans, the company's asset quality continues to improve, due in part to a more robust credit administration process. This shift in earning assets, coupled with less reliance on higher cost funding, has protected the company's NIM from more significant deterioration during the recent flat-to-inverted yield curve environment. While capital levels, particularly tangible capital, trail many similarly rated peers, Fitch takes comfort in the expected rapid rebuild of capital following the closing of the pending acquisition of Lynnwood Financial, Inc. Fitch also anticipates capital ratios will more closely approximate the company's peers in the intermediate term, as the company's earnings momentum and low dividend payout ratio Dividend Payout Ratio The percentage of earnings paid to shareholders in dividends. Calculated as: support the accumulation of capital. Ratings: Sterling Financial Corp. -- Issuer Default Rating upgraded to 'BBB-' from 'BB+'; -- Short-term rating upgraded to 'F3' from 'B'; -- Individual rating affirmed at 'C'; -- Support affirmed at '5'; Rating Outlook Stable. Sterling Savings Bank -- Issuer Default Rating upgraded to 'BBB-' from 'BB+'; -- Long-term deposits upgraded to 'BBB' from 'BBB-'; -- Short-term debt ratings upgraded to 'F3' from 'B'; -- Short-term deposits affirmed at 'F3'; -- Individual rating affirmed at 'C'; -- Support affirmed at '5'; Rating Outlook Stable. Fitch's rating definitions and the terms of use Terms of Use are rules set up by the owner of an intellectual property or service to govern how they may be legally used. In many cases, terms of service are used as a contractual agreement between a company and users of a service they provide. of such ratings are available on the agency's public site, www.fitchratings.com. Published ratings, criteria and methodologies are available from this site, at all times. Fitch's code of conduct, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, affiliate firewall, compliance and other relevant policies and procedures Policies and Procedures are a set of documents that describe an organization's policies for operation and the procedures necessary to fulfill the policies. They are often initiated because of some external requirement, such as environmental compliance or other governmental are also available from the 'Code of Conduct' section of this site. |
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