MELBOURNE (Standard&Poor's) June 7, 2011--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that it had revised its outlook on Bank of Queensland Ltd. (BoQ) to negative, from stable. At the same time, we affirmed BoQ's 'BBB+/ A-2' counterparty credit ratings. The negative outlook reflects Standard&Poor's view that there is a one-in-three chance of a downward rating adjustment within two years on BoQ. "Although BoQ's overall financial risk profile remains consistent with its current rating, the emergence of asset-quality pressure has increased the prospect that the bank's financial risk profile could weaken to a level no longer supportive of the current rating," said credit analyst Cynthia Goldszmidt. "This specific risk is the predominate factor that underpins our negative
