Scope Ratings GmbH (Scope) monitors and reviews its credit ratings on an ongoing basis and at least annually, or every six months in the cases of sovereigns, sub-sovereigns and supranational organisations that may act as a lender of last resort.

Scope performs monitoring reviews to determine whether material changes and/or changes in macro-economic or financial-market conditions could have an impact on the credit ratings. Scope considers all available and relevant information when undertaking the monitoring review.

Monitoring reviews are conducted by performing a peer comparison, benchmarking against the rating-change drivers, and/or reviewing the credit rating’s performance over time, as deemed appropriate by the Lead Analyst or Analytical Team Head, in addition to an assessment of all aspects of the relevant methodology, including key rating assumptions and model). Scope announces the result of each monitoring review on its website and/or on its subscription platform ScopeOne.

Scope completed the monitoring review for “Aegean Baltic Bank SA” (issuer rating: BB/Stable) on 18 June 2025.

This monitoring note does not constitute a credit-rating action, nor does it indicate the likelihood that Scope will conduct a credit-rating action in the short term. Information about the latest credit-rating action connected with this monitoring note along with the associated ratings history can be found on scoperatings.com.

Key rating factors

Aegean Baltic Bank S.A. (ABBank)’s issuer rating of BB reflects the following assessments:

Business model assessment: Focused (Low). ABBank is a small, specialised lender focused on shipping finance. While shipping is a highly cyclical activity, it is largely decoupled from the Greek economy; this enabled the bank to weather the domestic sovereign crisis. The bank’s recent expansion into onshore corporate lending adds to its business diversification.

Operating environment assessment: Moderately Supportive (High). Scope’s assessment acknowledges the moderate level of wealth in Greece, the effective institutional support mechanisms within the euro area and the strong regulatory and supervisory framework for Greek banks within the European Banking Union.

Long-term sustainability assessment: Developing. In Scope’s view, intrinsically high governance risks are well managed, as evidenced by the bank’s strong track record. In February 2025, ABBank announced that the Swiss entity Aegean Baltic Holding AG, controlled by the Greek billionaire Aristotelis Mistakidis, had successfully completed the acquisition of 47.9% of the bank’s share capital, in addition to further 20% of voting rights. While the change in ownership brings some uncertainty in terms of strategy and key management, Scope does not expect the current strategic direction to change.

Prompted by the Central Bank of Greece, ABBank has worked on action plans to address the ECB supervisory expectations related to the management of environmental risks. Scope believes that ABBank is prepared for this challenge, as it has long experience managing environmental risks that can affect the value of ships used as collateral.

Earnings and risk exposures assessment: Supportive (+1). ABBank has a robust capacity to generate earnings due to its competitive operating leverage and low cost of risk.

Increased lending capacity, driven by improved funding conditions for the Greek banking sector, has enabled ABBank to grow quickly and achieve record results since 2020. Loan losses have also remained low. At the same time, the bank's customer base and credit exposures are highly concentrated.

Asset quality metrics are solid, reflecting a prudent risk appetite, high levels of collateralisation and a favourable economic cycle. The bank’s gross non-performing exposure ratio is well below the national average.

Financial viability assessment: Adequate. The bank has maintained a sound capital position in a context of significantly increasing risk-weighted assets. Funding risk is relatively high due to the reliance on large, uninsured deposits, although liquidity buffers are ample.

The Stable Outlook reflects Scope’s view that the risks to the current rating are balanced.

The upside scenario for the rating and Outlook is:

1. Well managed growth, both in the shipping and in onshore corporate segments, coupled with increasing diversification of funding sources.

The downside scenarios for the rating and Outlook are (individually or collectively):

1. Material worsening of asset quality metrics, potentially from rapid expansion into industry sectors where the bank does not have a long track record.
    
2. Evidence of a less prudent approach to capital management and/or a decline in liquidity buffers, leading to a lower assessment of financial viability management.

The methodology applicable for the reviewed rating and/or rating Outlook (Financial Institutions Ratings Methodology, 10 January 2025) is available on scoperatings.com/governance-and-policies/rating-governance/methodologies.
This monitoring note is issued by Scope Ratings GmbH, Lennéstraße 5, D-10785 Berlin, Tel +49 30 27891-0.
Lead analyst: Alessandro Boratti, Associate Director
 
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