Abu Dhabi – Mubasher: Fitch Ratings has affirmed Sharjah Islamic Bank’s (SIB) long-term issuer default rating (IDR) and viability rating (VR) at 'BBB+' and 'bb+', respectively, with a stable outlook. 

The rating is supported by a high probability of support available to the bank from the UAE authorities, as shown by their long record of supporting local banks, the international credit rating agency said in a statement.

“SIB's support rating floor (SRF) is two notches below the UAE Domestic Systemically Important Banks' (D-SIB) SRF of 'A' due to Fitch's view that SIB is of moderate systemic importance based on its 1.7% market share of total assets in the UAE banking sector at end-2020.”

The bank also “maintains a reasonable cushion of net liquid assets that covered 15% of customer deposits at end-2020.”

The capital buffers and reasonable reserve coverage, standing at 85.6% at the end of the first quarter (Q1) of 2021, support a healthy loss-absorption capacity.