Credit rating

Long-Term:  BBB+
Short-Term: A-2 
Outlook:       Stable

On 10 December 2020, Standard & Poor's Global Ratings affirmed its long-term counterparty credit rating on Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Limited at 'BBB+', and affirmed the short-term rating at 'A-2'. The outlook remains stable.

Standard and Poor's expect BEN’s capitalization and provisioning to remain strong and will continue to support its credit profile in the coming two years.

The Bank’s community banking model provides it a point of differentiation to regional and major bank peers, and allows it to compete with larger institutions despite the pricing power and cost advantages they have through economies of scale.

Long-Term:  A-
Short-Term: F2 
Outlook:       Negative

On 30 November 2020, Fitch Ratings, the international ratings agency affirmed Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Ltd's long term rating at 'A-', and affirmed the short term rating of 'F2' and its support rating of '3', and the Bank's viability rating of 'A-'. The outlook is negative.

Fitch commented that they have maintained a negative factor outlook on the 'aa-' operating environment score for Australian banks to reflect continued downside risks to the base-case forecasts, although the level of uncertainty has reduced since Fitch revised the factor outlook in April 2020.

Long-Term:  A3
Short-Term: P-2 
Outlook:       Stable

On 2 November 2020, Moody’s affirmed its long-term issuer rating at ‘A3’ and short term rating at ‘P-2’, with a stable outlook.

Moody’s commented that the ratings reflect the Bank's strong credit profile characterized by its well-developed franchise centered around community banking, conservative management historically focused on low-risk lending, stable asset quality, strong funding structure and good capital adequacy.

Moody’s commented that earnings pressure for Australian Banks will intensify in 2020 as a result of the economic slowdown caused by the coronavirus outbreak.