Rates round-up
HBS rated BB; Petricevic Porsche sold; Babcock and Brown down; NZ Post and Kiwibank ratings affirmed; NZX partners with ANZ to create indices.
Monday, March 16th 2009, 5:12AM
Fitch has given the Hastings Building Society (HBS) a BB rating. It says the rating reflects HBS's solid niche in the small but relatively prosperous region of Hawke's Bay.
The ratings also take into account a generally conservative approach to lending and risk management, strong liquidity and adequate capitalisation. HBS funds itself entirely from retail sources with more than 50% in the form of redeemable share term deposits, and at-call savings deposits comprising the balance.
HBS lends primarily for residential mortgages and to SMEs in the Hastings/Napier region and is the country's fifth-largest building society with total assets of $187m at end-September 2008. It has provided retail and commercial banking services to the Hastings/Napier region since 1885.
Petricevic Porsche sold
The Porsche belonging to former Bridgecorp boss Rod Petricevic has been sold at auction for $150,000.
The 2005 Porsche 911 was the subject of a legal row last year after it was transferred to a trust days before the company collapsed.
The car was seized by court bailiffs late last year ordered to be sold.
Babcock & Brown calls in administrators as noteholder vote fails
Babcock & Brown Limited, the Australian investment group whose debt-funded acquisition strategy crashed with the credit crunch, called in administrators after New Zealand investors voted against a restructuring plan. [Read On]
NZ Post and Kiwibank ratings affirmed
New Zealand Post has had its rating affirmed by Standard & Poor’s (S&P).
Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has affirmed New Zealand Post’s rating of AA-/A-1+, while its outlook remains stable.
NZ Post-owned Kiwibank has also had its AA-/A-1+ rating and stable outlook affirmed.
“The ratings on NZ Post are underpinned by the current strength of the company’s market position, its supportive relationship with the government and solid cash performance,” S&P credit analyst Anna Hughes said.
The biggest risk to the ratings on NZ Post remains the impact of its ownership and guarantee of Kiwibank. The bank’s credit quality remains weaker than its parent’s traditional business because it has a modest market position, modest profitability and potential for further deterioration in asset quality, S&P said.
NZX partners with ANZ to create indicesNZX has partnered with ANZ to ensure the ongoing development of performance benchmarks for the New Zealand fixed interest market.
The partnership has seen the launch of the ANZ Debt Indices.
The indices are widely used by the NZ funds management industry to assess the performance of their fixed interest funds and NZX believes the relationship provides the opportunity for both parties to collaborate on enhancing and developing the existing suite of debt indices for investors.
Driven by investor feedback, both companies have developed the most recent addition to the product suite – the NZ Kauri Bond Indices.
“The market insight provided by ANZ, combined with NZX’s expertise in index composition will ensure investors are supported by measurement tools that are both relevant and accurate,” head of market products Geoff Brown says.
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