S&P Rts AHB's Oeffentliche Jumbo Pfandbriefe 'AAA'.

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Standard & Poor's CreditWire 9/8/97-- Standard & Poor's today assigned its triple-'A' long-term rating to the public-sector (Oeffentliche) Jumbo Pfandbriefe issued by Allgemeine Hypothekenbank AG (AHB). At the same time, Standard & Poor's also assigned its single-'A' long-term and 'A-1' short-term counterparty ratings to AHB. The rating outlook is stable.

AHB's public sector (Oeffentliche) Pfandbriefe triple-'A' rating primarily reflects the Pfandbriefe collateral, coupled with protections afforded by German insolvency and banking laws. AHB maintains a segregated, revolving pool of high quality public sector loans on which the Oeffentliche Pfandbriefe have a preferential claim. The amount of collateral is sufficient to absorb potential credit losses and repay interest on and principal of the Pfandbriefe as they become due, even in the unlikely case the bank is unable to meet its obligations. The rating also reflects the sound quality of the management, control, and expertise of AHB.

AHB's single-'A'/'A-1' counterparty ratings reflect the bank's good asset quality and its lean cost structure. The ratings however, also reflect the legally required business limitation on mortgage and public sector lending. These business lines are subject to tough competition. In addition, the pronounced weakness of most domestic real estate markets, has led to a rise in provisioning needs for commercial and residential mortgage loans, albeit off low levels. Profitability and capital levels are low on an international basis, although they are in line with its domestic peers.

With total unconsolidated assets of Deutsche mark (DM) 51.6 billion (US$27.9 billion at DM1.85 to US$1) and total equity of DM638 million as of June 30, 1997, AHB ranks among the ten largest private mortgage banks in Germany, measured by total assets.

As a private mortgage bank, AHB's business is essentially limited to making residential and commercial mortgage loans and loans to public sector authorities in Germany, within the European Union and the EFTA (European Free Trade Association). As a mortgage bank it also enjoys the privilege to refinance such loans with Pfandbriefe (Hypotheken-Pfandbriefe or Oeffentliche Pfandbriefe) which are collateralized by the underlying loans.

As of June 30, 1997 AHB had issued Jumbo-Pfandbriefe with a total volume of DM20.8 billion, making AHB the third largest Jumbo Pfandbriefe issuer, capturing a 11.5% share of the DM181.2 billion Jumbo Pfandbriefe market, Standard & Poor's said. -- CreditWire.

CONTACT: Michael Zlotnik, Frankfurt (49) 69-138709-18

Gail Hessol, New York (1) 212-208-1631

Kurt D Sampson, London (44) 171-826-3535

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