Credit rating agency Moody's today said that ICCI Bank, riding on strong domestic retail and corporate presence, continues to exhibit
financial strength.
The agency assigned Baa2 rating to ICICI's US dollar-denominated unsecured fixed-rate bonds to be issued by the bank's Hong Kong branch.It said the rating is at the same level as India's foreign currency debt ceiling of Baa2 with a stable outlook.
Moody's said the exact amount and maturity of the bonds is yet to be decided.
"The rating reflects the bank's comfortable liquidity position, strong capitalisation levels, as well as its satisfactory recurring profitability driven by robust fee income, comprising more than 36 per cent of the bank's total income during the fiscal year ending March 2010," Moody's said in a global statement.
It, however, cautioned that ICICI banks faces asset quality challenges, keeping in view its "relatively high levels of delinquent retail loans comprising around 67 per cent of the bank's total gross non-performing loans (NPLs)".
Moody's said that higher loan loss provisions are also exerting pressure on the bank's profits.