DBRS Initiates Ratings Coverage of Bank of Ireland Mortgage Bank at A (low), Stable Trend

DBRS Ratings Limited (DBRS) has assigned a Long-Term Issuer Rating of A (low), and a Short-Term Issuer Rating of R-1 (low) to Bank of Ireland Mortgage Bank (BoIMB or the Bank). The trend on all ratings is Stable. DBRS has also assigned a support assessment of SA1 to reflect the expectation of strong and predictable support from its Parent The Governor and Company of the Bank of Ireland (BoI). Please see the table at the end of the press release for a full list of ratings.

KEY RATING CONSIDERATIONS
BoIMB is a 100% owned subsidiary of BoI. The Bank’s principal activities are the issuance of Irish Residential mortgages and mortgage covered securities.

RATING DRIVERS
As a supported rating with an SA1 designation, BoIMB’s Long-Term ratings are equalised with the Parent’s A (low) Intrinsic Assessment (IA) and Long-Term Issuer Rating of A (low), Stable trend. In addition, any indication of a reduction of support from the Parent or a significant change to BoIMB’s role within BoI could impact DBRS’s support assessment, and potentially have a negative impact on BoIMB’s ratings.

Positive pressure on the parent BoI’s Long-Term ratings would require i) stable loan book growth, ii) further improvement in asset quality indicators, and iii) a continued track record in strong and stable earnings. Negative rating pressure on BoI’s Long-Term ratings could arise from i) a reversal in asset quality improvements, ii) significant weakening in key segments of the Bank’s franchise, or iii) if either the Irish or UK economies were to deteriorate such that BoI’s financial fundamentals were substantially impacted.

RATING RATIONALE
The SA1 support assessment reflects BoIMB’s important role as a core component of BoI’s franchise. The SA1 also reflects the Bank’s position as a direct subsidiary of BoI, that it shares BoI branding and name, and that it is domiciled in the same country. BoIMB ratings also consider DBRS’s expectation that the Parent has the resources and motivation to support the Bank, if needed.

Notes:
All figures are in EUR unless otherwise noted.

The principal applicable methodology is the Global Methodology for Rating Banks and Banking Organisations (July 2018). These can be found can be found at: http://www.dbrs.com/about/methodologies

The sources of information used for this rating include SNL Financial and company disclosures. DBRS considers the information available to it for the purposes of providing this rating to be of satisfactory quality.

This rating concerns a newly rated issuer. This is the first DBRS rating on this issuer.

This is an unsolicited rating. This credit rating was not initiated at the request of the issuer.

This rating included participation by the rated entity or any related third party. DBRS had no access to relevant internal documents for the rated entity or a related third party.

DBRS does not audit the information it receives in connection with the rating process, and it does not and cannot independently verify that information in every instance.

Generally, the conditions that lead to the assignment of a Negative or Positive Trend are resolved within a twelve month period. DBRS’s outlooks and ratings are under regular surveillance

For further information on DBRS historical default rates published by the European Securities and Markets Authority (“ESMA”) in a central repository, see:
http://cerep.esma.europa.eu/cerep-web/statistics/defaults.xhtml.

Ratings assigned by DBRS Ratings Limited are subject to EU and US regulations only.

Lead Analyst: George Yiannakis, Vice President - Global FIG
Rating Committee Chair: Elisabeth Rudman, Managing Director, Head of EU FIG, Global FIG
Initial Rating Date: N/A
Most Recent Rating Update: N/A

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