Accra, Aug 1, GNA – Global Credit Ratings (GCR), an international rating agency, has upgraded Fidelity Bank Limited’s national scale long-term issuer rating from A to A+ and has affirmed the Bank’s short term issuer ratings of A1 with a Stable Outlook.
The GCR listed Fidelity Bank’s sound domestic franchise, good distribution network and local geographic diversification, stable funding structure and good levels of liquidity as factors that underpinned the ratings, a press release shared with the Ghana News Agency announced Monday.
“The ratings also factor sound capitalisation supported by robust internal capital generation,” it added.
Fidelity Bank is the largest privately-owned Ghanaian Bank and serves approximately two million customers in 75 branches across the country.
According to the GCR, Fidelity Bank “is adequately capitalised with a forecast capital ratio of 25 per cent over the next 12 to 18 months.”
The Agency also explained that the ratings may improve should the bank further diversify its revenue sources and maintain an internal capital generation rate of more than 30 per cent.
Commenting on GCR’s upgraded ratings, Julian Opuni, the Managing Director of Fidelity Bank Ghana, welcomed the milestone, saying the rating “speaks volumes” about the Bank’s commitment to building a good governance culture and an effective risk culture for the benefit of all our stakeholders.
“This also represents the results of the loyalty and hard work of our staff over the years as well as the confidence that our customers have in us.
“Fidelity Bank is grateful to each and every one who continues to support the Bank to achieve great feats such as this. It is also our promise to consolidate our gains to ensure that Fidelity Bank is still positioned as one of the leading financial institutions in Ghana that continues to create value for all its stakeholders,” Mr Opuni added.
The bank, which is marking its 15th anniversary this year, started as a Tier one bank, is now the leader in the digital banking space. It has 75 branches across the country.
It has two subsidiaries, Fidelity Asia Bank, which is a wholly-owned in Malaysia, and Fidelity Securities Limited, an asset management firm.
GNA