OREANDA-NEWS. S&P Global Ratings said today that it lowered the long-term counterparty credit rating on Turkey-based bank Albaraka Turk Katilim Bankasi (Albaraka Turk) to 'BB-' from 'BB'. The outlook is stable. We affirmed our 'B' short-term counterparty credit rating on the bank.

We also lowered our long-term Turkey national scale rating on Albaraka Turk to 'trA+' from 'trAA-'. We affirmed the short-term Turkey national scale rating at 'trA-1'.

At the same time, we lowered the issue rating on the subordinated Sukuk issued by Albaraka Turk subsidiaries Albaraka Sukuk Ltd. and ABT Sukuk Ltd. to 'B-' from 'B'. We also lowered the issue rating on Bereket Varlik Kiralama Anonim Sirketi's Sukuk to 'BB-' from 'BB'.

The rating actions primarily reflect the continued deterioration in Albaraka Turk's capital. We forecast the bank's risk-adjusted capital (RAC) ratio to remain below 5% in the next 12 months, the level it fell to at year-end 2015, owing to growth in risk assets outstripping core equity. While we expect the bank's credit growth to moderate, it is likely to remain above the system average for the next 12 months.

The 'bb+' anchor for Turkish banks, including Albaraka Turk, is based on our assessment of economic and industry risks in Turkey.

Albaraka Turk's business position remains moderate, in our view. It has a relatively minor market position in the broader Turkish banking sector, though the bank holds a stronger position in the participation banking segment. The group's capital position has deteriorated, prompting us to revise our assessment of its capital and earnings to weak from moderate. This is based on a RAC ratio of 4.9% as of year-end 2015, which we project to reduce to around 4.5% over the next 12-18 months. Net interest margins are likely to remain stable in 2016 before declining marginally in 2017, which, along with more subdued loan growth over the forecast period and elevated cost of risk, will reduce Albaraka Turk's profitability. While earnings quality remains adequate, based on the strong share of intermediation and fee income in revenue generation, capital quality is under pressure given the bank's higher-than-average reliance on Tier 2 instruments.

Our moderate assessment of Albaraka Turk's risk position balances the bank's satisfactory asset quality metrics with its high exposure to the construction sector and credit growth that is faster than the system average. We assess its funding as average and liquidity as adequate, based on its short-term but relatively granular deposit base and adequate levels of liquid assets. Liquidity also benefits from Albaraka Turk's access to the central bank's rediscount credit facility, which was recently expanded following the recent attempted coup, along with a cut in the reserve requirements for Turkish banks.

Overall, we assess Albaraka Turk's stand-alone credit profile (SACP) at 'b+'. We incorporate one notch of uplift into the rating on Albaraka Turk to reflect group support from its parent the Albaraka Banking Group B. S.C., in accordance with our group rating methodology. Although the outlook on Albaraka Banking Group is negative, the rating on Albaraka Turk would not be affected in case of a one-notch downgrade of the parent. This is because there is a two-notch difference between the rating on the parent and its Turkish subsidiary.

Our stable outlook on Albaraka Turk reflects our expectation that the financial profile of the bank is likely to remain unchanged over the next 12 months despite the mounting pressure in its operating environment.

A downgrade appears remote over the next 12 months as we expect the bank's asset quality indicators to remain resilient to any potential further deterioration in its operating environment. Moreover, in our opinion, the bank's profit margins are sufficient to absorb a moderate rise in nonperforming financings (NPFs) and cost of risk.

On the other hand, a rating upgrade appears also remote over the next 12 months as it would require a significant strengthening of the bank's capitalization through Tier 1 instruments.