OREANDA-NEWS. Fitch Ratings says that the pressure on South Korean regional bank Busan Bank's (BSB, BBB+/Negative/bbb+) capital position will be alleviated by its parent BNK Financial Group's (BNK) plan to inject up to KRW270bn in its wholly owned subsidiary.

BNK said on 17 November 2015 that it plans to issue 70 million new common equity shares, representing 27% of the existing outstanding shares. The share issue, with a provisional price of KRW10,600 a share, could raise KRW742bn. BNK intends to use most of the proceeds to reinforce its subsidiaries' capital position, including KRW270bn (36%) to be set aside for BSB.

If the new rights offer is completed as planned, it would be positive for BSB's credit profile. Fitch estimates BSB's and BNK's Fitch Core Capital ratios will be boosted by 0.8pp and 1.1pp to 11.3% and 9.1%, respectively. Also, BNK's double leverage, while still comparatively high, is likely to improve to 128% from 134% in 3Q15. BNK's improved capital would lower pressure on its subsidiaries to pay dividends, a burden that is mostly borne by BSB.

BSB's Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) is on Negative Outlook, reflecting pressure on its capitalisation amid an increasingly challenging operating environment. This pressure would be partly relieved if the capital injection is completed as planned. Fitch in its previous rating action commentary on BSB dated 20 August 2015 said that the bank's IDRs and Viability Rating could be downgraded if BSB's capitalisation does not recover to above 10% within a year.

Subscription for the new rights is scheduled to be completed in 20 January 2016. The final subscription price will be determined at a 17% discount to BNK's weighted average stock price of BNK over 6-8 January 2016, leaving uncertainty about the final amount that BNK will raise. BNK's share price plummeted to KRW9,720 at the close of the first trading day after announcing the equity raising. Proceeds from the equity raising and the capital injection into BSB could be lower if the stock price does not recover sufficiently. At KRW9,720, the increase in BSB's capital ratio would be 0.6pp.

Besides the capital position, Fitch has also identified BSB's asset quality as another area of concern. Although the bank's precautionary and below loan ratio is reported at an adequate level of 2.5% in absolute terms as of 3Q15, the number has been rising since 1Q14 and exceeded the average of commercial banks from 2Q15. As BSB's loan book growth moderates after above-average growth in recent years, there is a greater risk that its asset-quality ratios could be worse than that of other commercial banks.