Nordic Credit Rating (NCR) has affirmed its long-term issuer ratings, short-term issuer ratings, senior unsecured issue ratings, and Tier 2 instrument ratings for five Swedish savings banks, in accordance with its revised financial institutions rating methodology. The banks are Sparbanken Alingsås AB, Sparbanken Rekarne AB (publ), Sparbanken Västra Mälardalen, Sörmlands Sparbank AB (publ), and Varbergs Sparbank AB (publ). The ratings on these banks are no longer under criteria review.
NCR has reviewed its ratings and outlooks for these five banks following the revision of its methodology for assigning ratings to financial institutions (link). We consider that our amendments to the methodology have not had a material impact on our view of the banks' creditworthiness, and that there have not been significant changes in their overall risk profiles. Consequently, we have affirmed our ratings on all five banks.
We maintain our watch positive on Sparbanken Västra Mälardalen, reflecting our expectation that the merger with Sparbanken Rekarne will be completed by Q4 2025. Following the merger, we anticipate the long-term issuer rating will likely be upgraded to 'A-', aligning with our rating on Sparbanken Rekarne. Our outlooks on the other four banks remain stable.
For further details and updated rating drivers, see the rating action reports for each bank, which can be found on their respective NCR issuer pages (link).
| Long-term issuer rating | Short-term issuer rating | Senior unsecured issue rating | Tier 2 instrument rating | Outlook |
Sparbanken Alingsås AB | A- | N2 | A- | - | Stable |
Sparbanken Rekarne AB (publ) | A- | N2 | A- | BBB+ | Stable |
Sparbanken Västra Mälardalen | BBB+ | N3 | BBB+ | - | Watch Positive |
Sörmlands Sparbank AB (publ) | A- | N2 | A- | - | Stable |
Varbergs Sparbank AB (publ) | A | N2 | A | - | Stable |
Related research
i) NCR Comments: Ratings for Swedish savings banks unchanged after Swedbank's revised dividend policy, 29 Jan. 2025.
ii) Nordic Credit Rating publishes amended Financial Institutions Rating Methodology, 12 May 2025.
Contacts:
Ylva Forsberg, analyst, +46768806742, ylva.forsberg@nordiccreditrating.com
Sean Cotten, chief rating officer, +46735600337, sean.cotten@nordiccreditrating.com