Warba Bank’s Long-Term IDR Affirmed at A+ with a Negative Outlook: Fitch

Fitch Ratings (Fitch) has affirmed Warba Bank’s (WB) Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at A+ with a Negative Outlook, and has also affirmed WB’s Viability Rating (VR) at bb-.

Ratings Rationale

WB’s IDR is driven by support from the Kuwaiti sovereign, with its Support Rating (SR) of 1 and Support Rating Floor (SRF) of A+ reflecting Fitch’s expectation of support provided by Kuwaiti authorities to all domestic banks. This is underpinned by Kuwait’s robust ability to provide support to domestic banks irrespective of bank size, funding structure and level of government ownership, and is reflected by the sovereign rating of AA/Negative. The Negative Outlook is indicative of the Kuwaiti sovereign rating.

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