We anticipate that the COVID-19 pandemic's effect on Gruppo Bancario Cooperativo Iccrea's (GBCI, the group) balance sheet will remain contained on the back of fast improving economic conditions and strong government support to the domestic private sector. We also consider that downside risks are reducing, and that the successful disposal of the sizable nonperforming asset (NPA) portfolio has significantly enhanced the group's asset quality. We revised our outlook on Iccrea Banca, a core entity of GBCI, to stable from negative and affirmed our 'BB/B' long- and short-term issuer credit ratings on the bank. The stable outlook reflects our view that the group's projected asset quality deterioration will remain manageable, with its risk-adjusted capital (RAC) ratio remaining sustainably above 5% over
