Report No. 3/2016

Legal basis:

§ 5 section 1 point 26 of the Regulation of the Minister of Finance of 19 February 2009 on current and periodic reports by issuers of securities and the conditions for recognising as equivalent of reports required by the laws of a non-member state

Content of the report:

The Management Board of PKO Bank Polski S.A. (“Bank”) reports that on 19 January 2016 Standard and Poor's rating agency withdrew the ratings of the Bank, acting on the Bank’s request dated 17 December 2015.

The Bank terminated the cooperation agreement with Standard and Poor's and caused the withdrawal of ratings due to the downscaling of its plans to issue bonds on the international markets, particularly in the United States. The termination of the agreement was justified by the fact that the current structure of the Bank’s balance sheet and the related plans for raising medium- and long-term funding provided for issues of bonds primarily on the domestic and European markets (mainly in Euro). Therefore, it was sufficient to have paid ratings from one rating agency to accomplish the financial plans. An important argument in support of the termination of the agreement with Standard and Poor’s in 2015 was the necessity for the Bank to reduce its operating expenses, which is of particular importance in circumstances of low interest rates and regulatory changes.

On the occasion of withdrawing its ratings, Standard and Poor's performed a final analysis of the current standing of the Bank and its business environment, following which the agency confirmed its short-term rating at “A-2” and decreased the long-term rating from “BBB+” to “BBB”. At the time of withdrawal of the ratings, the outlook were stable. Standard and Poor's advised the Bank that its long-term rating had been reduced as a result of the lowering, on 15 January 2016, of the sovereign rating of Poland. In its analysis, the agency states that the Bank has a strong business position, adequate capital and liquidity in a 2-year time horizon, an appropriate quality of assets and a sound funding base, mainly consisting of retail deposits.

At present, PKO Bank Polski S.A. only has a paid financial reliability rating by Moody’s rating agency at the level of A2 (long-term deposit rating) and A3 (long-term debt rating) with stable outlook.