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Fitch Downgrades First Republic Bank’s Rating to ‘B’ on Cash Crunch

Fitch on Wednesday night downgraded First Republic Bank (FRC)'s debt by three notches following last week's downgrade.

First Republic’s rating was downgraded again less than a week after a group of Wall Street lenders agreed to deposit $30 billion with the struggling lender.

Fitch Ratings downgraded First Republic Bank’s long-term issuer default rating to ‘B’ from ‘BB’, citing higher costs of new funding. Fitch had already downgraded the company’s rating to junk before the rescue package passed. Peer S&P Global also downgraded the bank twice in recent days.

While First Republic Bank received some liquidity with a $30 billion capital infusion from a consortium of 11 of the largest US banks, “the bank’s relatively expensive new funding profile is seen as a major rating constraint,” according to Johann Analysts led by Moller wrote in a note.

They said the bank is currently in loss and “is not sustainable in the long term without a balance sheet restructuring”.

According to the rating firm, the requirement to repay $30 billion at the end of the term will pose a challenge for struggling lenders. Like other US banks, the fair market value of First Republic’s securities and loans has fallen below book value, meaning any asset sale “will likely require a substantial recapitalisation.”

Fitch said the bank’s holdings of long-term municipal securities and residential mortgages also raised capital concerns. The rating firm has a negative view of First Republic, suggesting further downgrades are likely.

The spread on its 4.375% bonds due 2,046 widened 18 basis points to 452 basis points as of 13:35 New York time.

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