Mubasher: Fitch Ratings affirmed Warba Bank’s issuer default ratings (IDR) on the long and short terms at ‘A+’ and ‘F1,’ respectively, with a stable outlook, the lender said in a statement.

Moreover, the ratings agency confirmed Warba Bank’s support ratings (SR) at ‘1’ and support ratings floor (SRF) at ‘A+’ which denotes the high credit quality and low risk of default, a bourse filing showed on Thursday.

The agency also kept Warba’s viability rating (VR) at ‘BB-,’ citing the bank’s continuous expansion of its market share, which reached 4.4%, in terms of assets by the end of the first half of the year, despite its relatively small domestic footprint.

Furthermore, Fitch highlighted that Warba’s asset quality was resilient, having recorded a financing ratio of 1.4% by the end of the first half of 2019, one of the lowest among Kuwaiti banks.

Moreover, Warba’s reserve coverage remained adequate, albeit lower than its counterparts, in the light of required reserve build-up.