International credit rating agency Capital Intelligence (CI) has announced that the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) for Egypt’s Commercial International Bank (CIB) is maintained at 'BBB-', despite ongoing economic pressures and the high sovereign risk related to a balance of payments and/or currency crisis, CI said in its report on its official website.

The FSR is supported by CIB's still sound loan asset quality, in spite of signs of stress, strong and rising profitability at both operating and net levels, high liquidity and good capital adequacy, the report revealed, adding that although Egypt's operating environment remains challenging, CIB has maintained sound risk metrics thanks to adept balance sheet management and its capacity to absorb unexpected losses has increased.

Accordingly, the Outlook for the FSR has been revised to 'Stable' from 'Negative', CI stated, adding that CIB’s long and short-term Foreign Currency Ratings (FCR) are maintained at 'B-' and 'B', respectively, constrained by Egypt's Sovereign FCR ('B-'/'B'/'Stable').

It is worth noting that the FCR denote significant credit risk, as the Bank's capacity for timely fulfillment of financial obligations is vulnerable to adverse changes in the operating environment and economy.

The Support Level of '3' (affirmed) reflects a high likelihood of support from the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) in case of need, the report added.