Nordic Credit Rating (NCR) said today that it had assigned an 'A' long-term and 'N2' short-term issuer rating to Norway-based mortgage company Helgeland Boligkreditt AS. The outlook is stable. At the same time we assigned a 'AAA' issue rating to the company's covered bonds.
Rating Rationale
Our 'A' issuer rating on Helgeland Boligkreditt is aligned to our 'A' issuer rating on its direct parent, SpareBank 1 Helgeland, and reflects the company's 'vital' financing role for its parent. Helgeland Boligkreditt finances over NOK 4bn in residential mortgage loans underwritten by its parent.
The mortgage loans in the cover pool are 84% in Nordland County, including over 30% in the municipality of Rana, 17% in Vefsn and 11% in Brønnøy. In addition, 10% of mortgages in the pool are located within the Oslo region.
The covered bond rating is based on the company's issuer rating and the high likelihood that the cover pool and the company's covered bonds would be acquired by a third-party savings bank in the event of a default of the parent. We also believe that the underlying cover pool would provide 'AAA' level support for bondholders in the event that the parent was downgraded.
Stable outlook
The stable outlook on Helgeland Boligkreditt reflects the company's vital funding role and the 'A' issuer rating on its parent. Given the stable outlook on our issuer rating for SpareBank 1 Helgeland, we expect the covered bond ratings to remain stable. Ratings upside on Helgeland Boligkreditt remains constrained by our 'A' issuer rating of the parent.
We could raise or lower our rating on Helgeland Boligkreditt due to changes in our issuer rating of the parent, given our view of the company as 'vital' to its parent. We could also reconsider our view of the company's importance due to material changes to its financial role for SpareBank 1 Helgeland.
| Rating list | Rating |
|---|---|
| Long-term issuer credit rating: | A |
| Outlook: | Stable |
| Short-term issuer credit rating: | N2 |
| Covered bond issue rating: | AAA |
Contacts:
Christian Yssen, analyst, +4740019900, christian.yssen@nordiccreditrating.com
Sean Cotten, lead senior analyst, +46735600337, sean.cotten@nordiccreditrating.com
Geir Kristiansen, analyst, +4790784593, geir.kristiansen@nordiccreditrating.com
The methodology documents used for this rating are NCR's Financial Institutions Rating Methodology published on 12 May 2025, NCR's Rating Principles published on 14 Feb. 2024, NCR's Group and Government Support Rating Methodology published on 14 Feb. 2024 and NCR's Covered Bond Rating Methodology published on 12 May 2025. For the full regulatory disclaimer please see the rating report.