The Institute of Private Enterprise Development (IPED) has gotten a good rating from regional credit rating body CariCRIS,
Caribbean Information and Credit Rating Services Limited (CariCRIS) in a statement on Thursday said it has assigned initial corporate credit ratings of CariBBB (Local Currency Rating) and CariBBB- (Foreign Currency Rating) on its regional scale, gyA+ (Local Currency Rating) and gyA (Foreign Currency Rating) on the Guyana national scale to IPED.
The regional scale ratings indicate that the level of creditworthiness of the obligor, adjudged in relation to other obligations in the Caribbean is adequate, it said. The Guyana national scale ratings indicate that the level of creditworthiness of this obligor, adjudged in relation to other obligations in Guyana is good, it added.
The release said that ratings of IPED are underpinned by its long history of operations in Guyana supported by strong brand equity and a good market position. Further, CariCRIS said that IPED is a profitable operation with a healthy net interest spread, as well as good capitalization and liquidity levels. The ratings also reflect the Company’s good risk management framework with
adequate oversight.
Further, strong macroeconomic prospects for Guyana are expected to drive IPED’s continued growth and this also supports the ratings. These rating strengths are tempered by IPED’s single line of business in Guyana, which is exposed to climate related risks, as well as its below average asset quality levels, the statement cautioned.
CariCRIS also assigned a stable outlook on the ratings. The stable outlook is based on the expectation that IPED will continue to be profitable over the next 12 to 15 months and maintain all its key credit drivers including good capitalisation and liquidity metrics.
