OREANDA-NEWS. Fitch Ratings has assigned a National Short-Term Rating of 'F1+(tha)' to Siam Commercial Bank Public Company Limited's (SCB; BBB+/Stable/AA(tha)) unsubordinated unsecured short-term debenture programme of up to THB50bn.

This programme will replace SCB's existing THB50bn short-term debenture programme, which expires on 15 July 2015. Debentures issued under the programme will have a maturity of no more than 270 days, and can be issued in separate tranches. Proceeds will be used for the bank's general corporate purposes.

KEY RATING DRIVERS
The programme is rated at the same level as SCB's National Short-Term Rating of 'F1+(tha)', as the issuance under the programme will constitute direct unsubordinated and unsecured obligations of the bank.

SCB's ratings reflect its sound domestic franchise, particularly in retail banking. The bank has had consistently high profitability, while key asset quality metrics remain reasonable with acceptable buffers in terms of capital and reserve coverage (as of 1Q15, the bank's Fitch Core Capital ratio was 15.9%, and its reserves for impaired loans was 138% of impaired loans).

RATING SENSITIVITIES
Any change in SCB's National Short-Term Ratings will affect the rating of the programme. SCB's National Short-Term Ratings are already at the top end of the scale, and hence, there is no upside. A downgrade may result from an extremely rapid deterioration in performance, asset quality and leverage. However, we do not expect such changes in the short-term.

The other ratings of SCB are unaffected and are as follows:

Long-Term Foreign Currency Issuer Default Rating: 'BBB+'; Outlook Stable
Short-Term Foreign Currency Issuer Default Rating: 'F2'
Viability Rating: 'bbb+'
Support Rating: '2'
Support Rating Floor: 'BBB-'
National Long-Term rating: 'AA(tha)'; Outlook Stable
National Short-Term rating: 'F1+(tha)'
Senior unsecured USD3.5bn MTN programme: 'BBB+'
Long-term foreign currency senior unsecured debt: 'BBB+'
National Rating on long-term subordinated debt: 'AA-(tha)'