SHUAA Capital, the region's leading financial services institution, today announces that it has been assigned a long term issuer rating of Baa2. This rating ranks SHUAA Capital among the top 20 global securities firms rated by Moody's Investor Service.
Moody's also assigned a short-term issuer rating of Prime-3 and a standalone financial strength rating ('FSR') of Ba1. The outlook on all ratings is stable. Moody's covers 30 securities firms from around the world, which includes all of the large investment banks. The cornerstone of its credit ratings on firms in the global securities industry is the franchise these firms have built at the nexus of capital markets.
Moody's rating methodology focuses on the key operational and financial aspects that Moody's believes to be the critical foundation of a company's performance and its ability to remain competitive and service its debt obligations. Investment grade ratings (Aaa to Baa3) are only assigned to companies with minimal, low or moderate credit risk.
Accordingly, Moody's rating reflects SHUAA's solid track record as one of the few leading, regional investment banking and securities firms in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), as well as its robust capitalisation, solid brand recognition and reputation, strong financial performance despite volatile regional capital markets, ample liquidity and satisfactory operating diversification.
Moody's also stated that SHUAA's financial strength rating enjoys strong upside potential over the medium term. In particular, this is due to senior management's clear intention to better control expansion and cope with inferred risks, the region's spectacular growth potential and increasing investor sophistication in the GCC.-PR