The ratings on Abbey National PLC (Abbey) reflect its continued important position in the U.K. residential mortgages and savings market, its plans to refocus its operations on its core retail financial services competencies, buoyant retail asset quality, good liquidity, the benefits expected to accrue from its cost and efficiency programs, improved management focus and execution, and measures to reduce the group risk profile. The ratings are restrained by the continued heavy burden of Abbey's restructuring on its balance sheet, as it incurs the costs of exiting noncore operations, and the expectation that the upturn in core retail profits will take some time to come through. Abbey announced a £686 million pretax loss for 2003, which came on top of a
