Strong capitalization. Focused strategy and long-standing sector expertise. Improving earnings prospects. Niche corporate banking and mortgage franchises. Elevated--albeit decreasing--reliance on wholesale funding. Earnings likely to be less predictable than other Dutch banks. Standard&Poor's Ratings Services' outlook on Dutch NIBC Bank N.V. is stable. After several years of retrenchment, we believe that NIBC's credit profile is in a satisfactory position to support a return to growth. This is reflected in our primary base-case assumptions that NIBC will maintain robust capitalization, by our measures, and that credit growth will not materially exceed that of Dutch peers. We could lower the ratings if we saw a deterioration in the bank's hitherto resilient asset quality--noting that its corporate book still includes some
