Bulletin: Aktia Bank's Buffers Should Counter COVID-19 Stress Despite Dividend Distribution

FRANKFURT (S&P Global Ratings) Jan. 13, 2021--S&P Global Ratings said today that Finland-based Aktia Bank PLC (A-/Negative/A-2) should be able to absorb further losses stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic despite going ahead with a dividend distribution for 2019. Aktia Bank's decision to go against the recommendation by Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority to cap or to suspend any distributions for 2019-2020 follows a similar decision by Bank of Aland PLC (BBB/Negative/A-2) on Jan. 1, 2021. On Jan. 11, 2021, Aktia Bank's board decided to distribute a dividend of €0.53 per share, or 60% of the profit for 2019. The adjusted payout ratio will be in the lower range of the bank's dividend policy, which targets 60%-80%. The dividend payment is in

...January 13, 2021 FRANKFURT (S&P Global Ratings) Jan. 13, 2021--S&P Global Ratings said today that Finland-based Aktia Bank PLC (A-/Negative/A-2) should be able to absorb further losses stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic despite going ahead with a dividend distribution for 2019. Aktia Bank's decision to go against the recommendation by Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority to cap or to suspend any distributions for 2019-2020 follows a similar decision by Bank of Aland PLC (###/Negative/A-2) on Jan. 1, 2021. On Jan. 11, 2021, Aktia Bank's board decided to distribute a dividend of 0.53 per share, or 60% of the profit for 2019. The adjusted payout ratio will be in the lower range of the bank's dividend policy, which targets 60%-80%. The dividend payment is in line with our expectations, and underpins our projected strong risk-adjusted ratio for the bank of about 14% at year-end 2021. Similarly, the bank's common equity tier 1 ratio of 15.6% (before dividend payout) as of September 2020 shows...

Bulletin