Rating firm quits action on BLOM's Syrian affiliate

Capital Intelligence withdraws ratings on BLOM Bank’s Bank of Syria & Overseas

International rating agency Capital Intelligence said that it has withdrawn its credit ratings for BLOM Bank’s Syrian affiliate Bank of Syria & Overseas (BSO). The agency said that the withdrawal of its rating was made at the request of the bank and that it will no longer maintain ratings coverage.

Cyprus-based Capital Intelligence said that due to the turmoil in Syria it did not have access to sufficient information to update the ratings at the time of withdrawal. It also indicated that despite BSO's resilient key financial ratios up to the third quarter of last year, the ratings assigned no longer reflect the bank's credit profile due to the impact the volatile political climate has had on the bank’s operating conditions.

In January 2011, Capital Intelligence assigned to BSO a 'stable' outlook and 'BB-' and 'B' on long- and short- term foreign currency ratings respectively.

BLOM Bank’s total consolidated assets amounted to $23 billion at end-December 2011. Deposits rose by 3.5 percent to $20.3 billion, while loans were up by eight percent to $5.6 billion. The bank reported a net income of around $331 million in 2011, posting a less than one percent annual growth. Blom Bank said, however, that it had allocated additional collective provisions of $33.17 million to alleviate the risks that could emerge from its operations in turmoil-stricken countries, mainly Syria and Egypt.