Fitch Upgrades BBVA’s Long-Term Issuer Rating to A
Fitch Ratings has upgraded BBVA’s long-term issuer default rating by one notch from A- to A. This upgrade is due to a methodological change under which the agency now uses senior preferred debt, instead of senior non-preferred debt, as the reference for this rating.
Accordingly, Fitch has aligned BBVA’s long-term issuer rating with the rating of its senior preferred debt, which it upgraded last October after highlighting an improved “assessment of the Spanish operating environment, resulting in a stronger risk and funding profiles for the Group, and BBVA’s record of strong earnings generation, underpinned by income diversification by geography”, the agency noted at the time.
The agency has also upgraded BBVA’s long-term deposit rating by one notch, from A to A+. In this regard, Fitch considers that depositors are well protected as a result of the bank’s ample resolution debt buffer. All other ratings remain unchanged, as does the outlook, which remains stable.
This action follows the upgrades to BBVA’s ratings carried out by the three main credit rating agencies in recent months.