PHILADELPHIA, June 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sovereign Bancorp, Inc.
("Sovereign") (NYSE: SOV), parent company of Sovereign Bank, announced
today that it has received credit rating upgrades from Moody's Investor
Services ("Moody's"), Standard & Poor's Rating Service ("S&P") and Fitch
Ratings ("Fitch") following the equity offering to Banco Santander Central
Hispano, S.A. ("Santander") of Madrid, Spain and acquisition of
Independence Community Bank Corp. ("Independence") of Brooklyn, New York.
Today, Moody's raised the senior unsecured ratings on Sovereign and its
affiliates to Baa1 from Baa3, and the long-term deposit ratings on
Sovereign Bank to A3 from Baa1. Moody's noted that positive pressure on
Sovereign's ratings could also result if Sovereign successfully integrates
Independence resulting in improved profitability, grows its core deposit
business compared to peers, and meaningfully reduces its newly increased
concentration of commercial real estate as a percentage of tangible equity.
On June 2, 2006, S&P raised its counterparty credit rating on Sovereign
one notch to 'BBB' and its ratings on Sovereign subsidiaries one notch as
well. Sovereign Bank's long-term rating is now BBB+. The rating outlook is
stable. S&P cited Sovereign's successful track record in managing its debt
and capital positions following the Fleet transaction in 2000 and stated
that their rating actions also considered the foothold the acquisition of
Independence provides Sovereign in the highly desirable New York/New Jersey
marketplace.
On June 1, 2006, Fitch upgraded the Support Ratings of Sovereign and
Sovereign Bank to 3 from 4 and 5, respectively. All other ratings were
affirmed. The rating outlook is stable. Fitch noted the basis for the
upgrade was the probability of support by Santander for Sovereign and
Sovereign Bank in the event of need under the source of strength doctrine.
Sovereign Bancorp, Inc., ("Sovereign") (NYSE: SOV), is the parent
company of Sovereign Bank, an $83 billion financial institution with nearly
800 community banking offices, over 2,000 ATMs after giving effect to the
recently announced branding agreement in which Sovereign ATMs will be
placed in CVS/pharmacy locations and approximately 12,000 team members with
principal markets in the Northeast United States. Sovereign offers a broad
array of financial services and products including retail banking, business
and corporate banking, cash management, capital markets, wealth management
and insurance. Sovereign is the 18th largest banking institution in the
United States. For more information on Sovereign Bank, visit
http://www.sovereignbank.com or call 1-877-SOV-BANK.
Note: "Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Statements in this press release regarding Sovereign
Bancorp's business which are not historical facts are "forward-looking
statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of such
risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual future events to differ
from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see
"Forward-Looking Statements" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K
for the most recently ended fiscal year.
SOURCE Sovereign Bancorp, Inc.
 back to top
Related links:
http://www.sovereignbank.com/
CONTACT:
FINANCIAL CONTACTS: Mark McCollom,
+1-610-208-6426 or mmccollo@sovereignbank.com or Stacey Weikel,
+1-610-208-6112 or sweikel@sovereignbank.com; or MEDIA CONTACT:
Ed Shultz, +1-610-378-6159 or eshultz1@sovereignbank.com, all of
Sovereign Bancorp
|
