...Support Drives IDRs : Gulf Bank K.S.C.P.'s (GB) Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) are driven by an extremely high probability of support from the Kuw aiti authorities if needed. This reflects Kuw ait's strong ability to provide support to domestic banks and a strong w illingness to do so irrespective of the bank's size, franchise or ow nership. The Viability Rating (VR) reflects GB's only adequate capitalisation, concentrated funding and below -peer-average profitability. It also considers a fairly stable operating environment, an adequate franchise, resilient asset quality, w ell-managed liquidity, strong management and good delivery on strategic objectives. Only Adequate Capitalisation: The bank's Fitch Core Capital (FCC) ratio (13.6% at end- 1H19) is below the sector average (15.9%) and only adequate given concentrations on both sides of the balance sheet. The bank has additional loss-absorption capacity from its excess loan loss reserves relative to impaired loans, w hich represented 31.7%...
