Credit Rating Disclosure Form Reference to Capital Market Authority’s regulations concerning disclosure of substantial information and the mechanism for disclosing the same, particularly Article 4-1-1/18 of Chapter Four (Book 10) , please be informed that the international rating agency “Fitch “ has affixed Kuwait International Bank’s long and short term credit rating as outlined in its report dated 9.6.2016.

 

Date: 13.6.2016

 

Name of Listed Company: Kuwait International Bank

 

Rating Agency: Fitch Ratings

 

Rating Category:

- Long Term IDR “A +” with Stable Outlook.

- Short Term IDR “F1”.

- Viability Rating “b+”. - Support Rating “1”.

- Support Rating Floor “A+”.

 

Rating Drivers: The bank’s Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs)(Long Term “A+” and Short Term “F1”) reflect an extremely high probability of support from Kuwaiti Authorities, if needed. Fitch Ratings assessment of support is based on the financial strength of Kuwait, in addition to the authorities’ demonstrated willingness to support the domestic banking system.

 

Rating Impact on the Company’s Status: KIB’s VR reflects the bank’s modest but improving franchise and evolving strategy. It also factors in high legacy exposure to domestic real estate. On the other hand, NPL ratio fell to 1.1% at end -2015.

 

Rating Outlook: “Stable” Outlook.

 

Translation of the Press Release or the Executive Summary: In its report issued on 9 June 2016, Fitch Ratings has affixed Kuwait International Bank’s Long-term IDR “A+” with a Stable Outlook and Short-Term IDR “F1”. The report stated that Kuwait International Bank’s operating environment is not immune to lower oil prices but Fitch believes this will be partially offset by the rising government spending as this filters down to the wider economy. The report also stressed that KIB has high concentration of financing to domestic real estate while NPL fell to 1.1% at end-2015. It also reported that KIB’s capital ratios are on a decreasing trend but still high by international standards.