First Abu Dhabi Bank P.J.S.C.

Leading franchise in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Strong capitalization and superior earnings generation. Stable base of core deposits and strong liquidity. Large concentration on both the asset and liability side of the balance sheet. Sizable exposure to the weak real estate market in the UAE. S&P Global Ratings anticipates that First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) will maintain its strong customer franchise and its resilient financial profile over the next 12-24 months. This reflects the bank's strong earnings generation, clear strategy, robust capitalization, and sound risk management. A positive rating action on FAB over the next 12-24 months appears remote. Such an action would follow an improvement of FAB's business or financial profile, which is unlikely in our view. Moreover,

...Sizable exposure to the weak real estate market in the UAE. Outlook: Stable S&P Global Ratings anticipates that First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) will maintain its strong customer franchise and its resilient financial profile over the next 12-24 months. This reflects the bank's strong earnings generation, clear strategy, robust capitalization, and sound risk management. A positive rating action on FAB over the next 12-24 months appears remote. Such an action would follow an improvement of FAB's business or financial profile, which is unlikely in our view. Moreover, we would consider an upgrade only if the bank's intrinsic creditworthiness increased by two notches. A downgrade of FAB also seems remote in the next 12-24 months because it would imply a simultaneous downgrade of the government of Abu Dhabi and a significant deterioration of the bank's asset quality, with higher-than-expected credit losses....

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