Morningstar DBRS Upgrades Institut Català de Finances's Long-Term Credit Ratings to BBB (high), Trend Revised to Stable

DBRS Ratings GmbH (Morningstar DBRS) upgraded Institut Català de Finances' (ICF or the Entity) credit ratings, including the Long-Term Issuer Rating to BBB (high) from BBB and the Short-Term Issuer Rating to R-2 (high) from R-2 (middle). The trend on all credit ratings changed to Stable from Positive. ICF's Support Assessment remains at SA1, which implies Morningstar DBRS' expectation of predictable support from its shareholder, the Autonomous Community of Catalonia (Catalonia). See a full list of credit ratings at the end of this press release.

KEY CREDIT RATING CONSIDERATIONS

The upgrade of ICF's Long-Term Issuer Rating to BBB (high) and the Stable trend follows Morningstar DBRS' upgrade of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia's ratings on 6 June 2025 (Morningstar DBRS Upgrades the Autonomous Community of Catalonia to BBB (high), Changes Trend to Stable).

ICF has a support assessment of SA1, as Morningstar DBRS expects predictable support from its shareholder, Catalonia, which provides an explicit, irrevocable, unconditional, and direct guarantee for ICF. ICF plays a critical role in Catalonia because it is tightly integrated with the regional government's public mission of promoting regional development, channeling public credit, and fostering the economic and social development of the region.

Morningstar DBRS rates Catalonia's Long-Term and Short-Term Issuer Ratings at BBB (high)/ R-2 (high) with a Stable trend. ICF's credit ratings are positioned at the same level as the sub-sovereign credit ratings of Catalonia in line with the guarantee. The credit ratings incorporate the expectation of a very strong likelihood of support, as any difficulties at ICF would fall within the responsibility of the regional government and also have a direct reputational impact on Catalonia.

CREDIT RATING DRIVERS
ICF's credit ratings and trends move in line with Catalonia's credit ratings. An upgrade of Catalonia's credit ratings would lead to an upgrade of ICF's credit ratings.

Similarly, a downgrade of Catalonia's credit ratings would lead to a downgrade of ICF's credit ratings. In addition, a weakening of the guarantee provided by Catalonia could also lead to a downgrade of ICF's credit ratings.

ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL, AND GOVERNANCE CONSIDERATIONS
ESG Considerations had a relevant effect on the credit analysis.

Social (S) Factors

The following Social factor had a relevant effect on the credit analysis: Passed-through Social considerations. The Social factor affects ICF as the ESG factors for the Autonomous Community of Catalonia are passed through to ICF.

There were no Environmental or Governance factors that had a significant or relevant effect on the credit analysis.

Credit rating actions on Catalonia are likely to have an impact on this credit rating. ESG factors that have a significant or relevant effect on the credit analysis of Catalonia are discussed separately at https://dbrs.morningstar.com/issuers/22723.

A description of how Morningstar DBRS considers ESG factors within the Morningstar DBRS analytical framework can be found in the Morningstar DBRS Criteria: Approach to Environmental, Social, and Governance Factors in Credit Ratings (16 May 2025) https://dbrs.morningstar.com/research/454196

Notes:
All figures are in euros unless otherwise noted.

The principal methodology is the Global Methodology for Rating Banks and Banking Organisations (23 May 2025) https://dbrs.morningstar.com/research/454637. In addition Morningstar DBRS uses the Morningstar DBRS Criteria: Approach to Environmental, Social, and Governance Factors in Credit Ratings (16 May 2025) https://dbrs.morningstar.com/research/454196 in its consideration of ESG factors.

The following methodology has also been applied:

Morningstar DBRS Global Corporate Criteria (3 February 2025)
https://dbrs.morningstar.com/research/447186

The credit rating methodologies used in the analysis of this transaction can be found at: https://dbrs.morningstar.com/about/methodologies.

The sources of information used for these credit ratings include Morningstar Inc. and company documents. Other sources include ICF 2024 Annual Report, ICF 2024 Pillar III Report, ICF 2024 Corporate Governance Annual Report and ICF 2024 Prudential Relevance Report 2024. Morningstar DBRS considers the information available to it for the purposes of providing these credit ratings to be of satisfactory quality.

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

The conditions that lead to the assignment of a Negative or Positive trend are generally resolved within a 12-month period. Morningstar DBRS's trends and credit ratings are under regular surveillance.

For further information on Morningstar DBRS historical default rates published by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) in a central repository, see: https://registers.esma.europa.eu/cerep-publication. For further information on Morningstar DBRS historical default rates published by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in a central repository, see https://data.fca.org.uk/#/ceres/craStats.

The sensitivity analysis of the relevant key credit rating assumptions can be found at: https://dbrs.morningstar.com/research/456027.

These credit ratings are endorsed by DBRS Ratings Limited for use in the United Kingdom.

Lead Analyst: Arnaud Journois, Senior Vice President, European Financial Institution Ratings
Rating Committee Chair: Nicola De Caro, Senior Vice President, Sector Lead, European Financial Institution Ratings
Initial Rating Date: 2 December 2022
Last Rating Date: 19 December 2024

DBRS Ratings GmbH
Neue Mainzer Straße 75
D-60311 Frankfurt am Main
Tel. +49 (69) 8088 3500
Geschäftsführung: Detlef Scholz, Marta Zurita Bermejo
Amtsgericht Frankfurt am Main, HRB 110259

For more information on this credit or on this industry, visit dbrs.morningstar.com.