DBRS has announced that it:
has today upgraded Laurentian Bank of Canada’s (Laurentian or the Bank) long-term ratings, including its Issuer Rating and Deposits & Senior Debt ratings, to A (low) from BBB (high) and its NVCC Preferred Share rating to Pfd-3 from Pfd-3 (low). DBRS has also confirmed Laurentian’s Short-Term Instruments rating at R-1 (low). All trends are now Stable.
…
The ratings upgrade resolves the positive trend which DBRS has held on Laurentian’s long-term ratings for two years. Laurentian’s credit profile has benefitted from diversification both geographically, through increased presence outside of Québec, and by business line, notably with the growth of B2B Bank. Efficiency at the Bank has been more recently trending in the right direction, and management has targeted further efficiency improvements over the medium term, particularly through the expansion of higher margin products and business lines which, if realized, should support the earnings profile of the Bank. DBRS anticipates that efficiency and geographic diversity should continue to improve, particularly as B2B Bank becomes a larger contributor. The rating is supported by the Bank’s overall lower-risk business profile, which is focused on retail lending funded by retail deposits, real estate and mid-market commercial financing, serves financial advisors and brokers through B2B Bank and includes a mid-sized Montréal-based capital markets business. Its high-cost structure and remaining geographic concentration remain challenging.
The affected issues are:
| LB Preferred Shares Upgrade |
| Ticker |
Type of Preferred |
NVCC Status |
New DBRS Rating |
| LB.PR.F |
FixedReset
4.00%+260 |
Non-Compliant |
Pfd-3(high) |
| LB.PR.H |
FixedReset
4.30%+255 |
Compliant |
Pfd-3 |
LB.PR.F and LB.PR.H were last mentioned on PrefBlog when they were downgraded by S&P earlier this month. Both are tracked by HIMIPref™ but relegated to the Scraps index on credit concerns.
This entry was posted on Monday, October 20th, 2014 at 11:58 pm and is filed under Issue Comments. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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DBRS Upgrades LB to Pfd-3(high) and Pfd-3
DBRS has announced that it:
The affected issues are:
4.00%+260
4.30%+255
LB.PR.F and LB.PR.H were last mentioned on PrefBlog when they were downgraded by S&P earlier this month. Both are tracked by HIMIPref™ but relegated to the Scraps index on credit concerns.
This entry was posted on Monday, October 20th, 2014 at 11:58 pm and is filed under Issue Comments. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.