Fitch Ratings has downgraded the National Long-Term Ratings of 10 Sri Lankan banks, Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), Sri Lanka Telecom PLC (SLT) and Sri Lanka-based Lakdhanavi Limited. 

Accrdingly, Fitch Ratings has downgraded the National Long-Term Ratings of 10 Sri Lankan banks following the recent sovereign downgrade and recalibration of the agency's Sri Lankan national rating scale.

The recalibration is to reflect changes in the relative creditworthiness among Sri Lankan issuers following Fitch's downgrade of Sri Lanka's Long-Term Local Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to 'CC' from 'CCC'/Under Criteria Observation on 1 December 2022. Fitch typically does not assign Outlooks or apply modifiers to sovereigns with a rating of 'CCC+' or below.

National scale ratings are a risk ranking of issuers in a particular market designed to help local investors differentiate risk. Sri Lanka's national scale ratings are denoted by the unique identifier '(lka)'. Fitch adds this identifier to reflect the unique nature of the Sri Lankan national scale. National scales are not comparable with Fitch's international rating scales or with other countries' national rating scales. 

The National Ratings of the Sri Lankan banks consider their creditworthiness relative to other issuers in the country. The recalibration of the Sri Lankan National Rating scale has resulted in downgrades of the National Long-Term Ratings of the following banks:

Bank of Ceylon (BOC) to 'A(lka)'/Rating Watch Negative (RWN) from 'AA-(lka)'/RWN

People's Bank (Sri Lanka) (PB) to 'A(lka)'/RWN from 'AA-(lka)'/RWN

Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC (CB) to 'A(lka)'/RWN from 'AA-(lka)'/RWN

Hatton National Bank PLC (HNB) to 'A(lka)'/RWN from 'AA-(lka)'/RWN

Sampath Bank PLC (Sampath) to 'A(lka)'/RWN from 'AA-(lka)'/RWN

Cargills Bank Limited (CBL) to 'A(lka)'/RWN from 'A+(lka)'/RWN

DFCC Bank PLC (DFCC) to 'A-(lka)'/RWN from 'A+(lka)'/RWN

National Development Bank PLC (NDB) to 'A-(lka)'/RWN from 'A(lka)'/RWN

Seylan Bank PLC (Seylan) to 'A-(lka)'/RWN from 'A(lka)'/RWN

Nations Trust Bank PLC (NTB) to 'A-(lka)'/RWN from 'A(lka)'/RWN

A full list of ratings is at the end of this commentary.

Other Sri Lankan banks' national ratings, which are not mentioned in this commentary, have not been affected by the recalibration exercise.

Also, Fitch Ratings has downgraded Ceylon Electricity Board's (CEB) National Long-Term Rating to 'B(lka)' from 'AA-(lka)'. The Outlook is Stable. Fitch has simultaneously downgraded the National Long-Term Rating of CEB's outstanding senior unsecured debentures to 'B(lka)', from 'AA-(lka)'.

The rating action follows the downgrade of the Sri Lankan sovereign's Long-Term Local-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to 'CC' from 'CCC' on 1 December 2022, and the subsequent recalibration of Sri Lanka's National Rating scale to reflect changes in the relative creditworthiness among the country's issuers. 

CEB's ratings are equalised with that of its parent, the Sri Lankan sovereign, in line with Fitch's Government-Related Entities (GRE) Rating Criteria. This is based on our assessment of a very strong likelihood of support from the state. CEB is the country's monopoly electricity transmitter and distributor and accounts for around 75% of power generation.

Meanwhile, Fitch Ratings has downgraded Sri Lanka-based Lakdhanavi Limited's National Long-Term Rating to 'A(lka)', from 'AA-(lka)'. The Outlook is Stable.

The downgrade follows Fitch's downgrade of the Sri Lankan sovereign's Long-Term Local Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to 'CC' from 'CCC' in December 2022, and the recalibration of our Sri Lankan National Rating scale to reflect changes in the relative creditworthiness among the country's issuers. For details, see "Fitch Downgrades Sri Lanka's Long-Term Local-Currency IDR to 'CC'; Affirms 'RD' Foreign-Currency IDR" and "Fitch Ratings Recalibrates Sri Lanka's National Rating Scale".

The rating action reflects the heightened counterparty risk stemming from Lakdhanavi's key counterparty - Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB). Fitch downgraded CEB's National Long-Term Rating to 'B(lka)'/Stable from 'AA-(lka)'/Stable on 12 January following the downgrade of the parent, the Sri Lankan sovereign's Long-Term Local-Currency IDR.

Further, Fitch Ratings has downgraded Sri Lanka Telecom PLC's (SLT) National Long-Term Rating to 'A(Ika)' from AA-(lka). The Outlook is Stable. Fitch has also downgraded the National Long-Term Rating on SLT's senior unsecured debentures to 'A(lka)' from 'AA-(lka)'.

The rating action follows the downgrade of the Sri Lankan sovereign's Long-Term Local-Currency Issuer Default Rating to 'CC' from 'CCC' in December 2022, and the subsequent recalibration of our Sri Lankan National Rating scale to reflect changes in the relative creditworthiness among the country's issuers.

SLT's ratings are influenced by parent Sri Lankan sovereign's weak credit profile, under Fitch's Parent and Subsidiary Linkage (PSL) Rating Criteria. SLT's Standalone Credit Profile (SCP) is stronger than that of the state, reflecting the company's market leadership in fixed-line services and second-largest share in mobile, its ownership of an extensive optical fibre network and a strong financial profile.