Fitch Rates Zenith Bank’s $1billion GMT Program B+

Reuters: Fitch Ratings has assigned Zenith Bank Plc’s (Zenith)  USD1bn Global Medium Term Note Programme a Long-term rating of ‘B+’ with a  Recovery Rating of ‘RR4’ and a Short-term rating of ‘B’. The Recovery Rating is  in accordance with Fitch’s soft cap for Nigeria.

Fitch notes that there is no assurance that notes issued under the programme  will be assigned a rating, or that the rating assigned to a specific issue under  the programme will have the same rating as the rating assigned to the programme.

KEY RATING DRIVERS: The programme’s ratings are aligned with Zenith’s Long-term Issuer Default  Rating (IDR) of ‘B+/Stable’ and Short-term IDR of ‘B’, which Fitch affirmed on 4  March 2014.  RATING SENSITIVITIES The programme ratings are sensitive to a change in Zenith’s IDRs. The Recovery  Rating is also sensitive to a change in Fitch’s assumption regarding recoveries  in the event of a default.