Fitch rating agency has placed Bank’s BPH rating on Watch Negative with Support rating of '1', which reflects the potential support from its parent company UniCredito (rated: 'A+'/'F1'/Outlook Positive). The Negative Watch rating reflects planned sale of the BPH legal entity, despite planned transfer of the majority of liabilities to Bank Pekao ('A'/'F1'/Outlook Positive). The rating agency stated that though a new owner may be able to provide support sufficient for a '1' Support rating, the Negative Watch status reflects the fact that the rating can only go down or stay the same, and not increase
post sale.
Our view:
We do not expect the news to have a significant trading impact on the stock.