Fitch Affirms 3 Bulgarian Mid-Sized Banks

Fitch rating agency has affirmed the long-term issuer default ratings of three mid-sized Bulgarian banks.

The banks are Societe Generale Express Bank AD (SGE) and Allianz Bank Bulgaria AD (ABB) at 'BBB+' with a Stable Outlook.

Fitch has also maintained MKB UnionBank AD's (MKBU) Long term IDR of 'BBB+' on Rating Watch Negative (RWN).

At the same time, the agency has affirmed ProCredit Bank (Bulgaria) AD's (PCB) Long-term IDR at 'BB+' with a Stable Outlook and upgraded PCB's Viability Rating (VR) to 'bb-' from 'b+'.

SGE is wholly owned by Societe Generale, while PCB is 81% owned by ProCredit Holding AG & Co.

Allianz SE is the controlling shareholder of ABB through its 66% share in Allianz Bulgaria Holding, which in turn owns a 79.9% in ABB.

MKBU's direct shareholder is MKB Bank Hungary Zrt, in turn owned by Bayerische Landesbank.

The IDRs and Support Ratings of SGE, ABB, MKBU and PCB are driven by the high probability of the banks being supported by their respective majority shareholders, if required, the agency said in a statement.