Credit ratings agency Fitch has affirmed its rating of the Bank of Valletta Group at BBB+, with a stable outlook.

Fitch said it attributed the confirmation of BOV's rating to the bank's strong domestic franchise, its stable funding model and its healthy liquidity position, which benefits from a wide customer deposit base and €900 million of unencumbered marketable assets. 

The agency commends BOV’s operating profitability, which has shown resilience even in a scenario of low interest rates, its prudent provisioning policy and its regulatory capital ratios.

Fitch said it expects that BOV “will be able to continue to report strong profits given its strong market shares and ability to price risk.”

Group CEO Charles Borg expressed his satisfaction. "The re-affirmation of BOV's rating and stable outlook by Fitch supports BOV's position as the bank of choice for customer deposits," said Mr Borg.

"This result is testimony to the sound governance and prudent policies that BOV has in place, and assumes greater significance in the context of the difficult situation which most Eurozone economies are still passing through."