Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Ltd (ASX:BEN) has announced that Fitch Rating has upgraded its Long-Term Issuer Default Rating from BBB+ to A-.
The bank’s outlook has now been revised to stable from positive at the same time that Fitch has affirmed all other ratings.
Fitch says the bank has strengthened its Australian retail banking franchise in a challenging operating environment for banks and that the upgrade reflects this strengthening.
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank’s group managing director Mike Hurst says it is the first Australian bank to receive such an upgrade since the Global Financial Crisis, and one of the few banks globally.
In the first half of its 2011 financial year, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank boosted its net profit by 67 per cent to $178.4 million.
