The Nigerian bank Coronation Merchant Bank Limited (CMB) has had its long-term issuer default (IDR) rating raised from “CC” to “B-” and its viability rating (VR) from “cc” to “b-” by the Fitch Ratings agency

Fitch is modernizing Coronation Merchant Bank as funding risks decrease. The rating agency adds that the revaluations reflect a strong improvement in the bank's capital situation following the completion of a rights issue and the sale of holdings denominated in foreign currency (FC). Fitch Ratings reported that “this improvement also reflects our view that the risks of funding instability have decreased thanks to strengthened capitalization and an improvement in CMB's core profitability following a significant relaxation of the cash reserve ratio (CRR) regime for investment banks