Leonteq AG (SIX: LEON) announced today that Fitch affirms Leonteq’s investment grade rating at “BBB-” with a Stable outlook.
The rating agency Fitch Ratings Ltd. has affirmed the long-term issuer default rating (IDR) of “BBB-” for Leonteq AG, Leonteq Securities AG and Leonteq Securities AG (Guernsey Branch) with a Stable outlook.
According to Fitch, the affirmation of the long-term IDRs assigned to Leonteq reflect its adequate and improving capitalisation, moderate and well-managed credit risk exposure, sound risk management systems, solid liquidity management as well as its sophisticated and scalable structured products issuance platform. Fitch additionally states that the IDRs also reflect Leonteq's narrow but well-developing franchise, some earnings volatility as evidenced during the initial stages of the pandemic-related market volatility and exposure to concentration risk (albeit decreasing), in particular with regard to a fairly small number of structured product issuance partners.
The Stable outlook reflects Fitch's expectation that Leonteq’s performance in 2021 will revert to (or close to) prepandemic levels and that management will make further progress in executing its medium-term strategy, in particular increasing operational scale and further improving business diversification, increasing volumes on its recently introduced Smart Hedging Issuance Platform (SHIP), which will improve capital efficiency, and further strengthening of the group’s capitalisation.
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LEONTEQ Leonteq is a Swiss company active in the finance and technology sector with a focus on the structured products segment. Based on proprietary modern technology, the company offers derivative investment products and services and predominantly covers the capital protection, yield enhancement and participation product classes. Leonteq acts as both a direct issuer of its own products and as a partner to other financial institutions. Leonteq further enables life insurance companies to produce capital-efficient, unit-linked pension products with guarantees. The company has offices and subsidiaries in 11 countries, through which it serves over 50 markets. Leonteq AG is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange. www.leonteq.com
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This press release may contain specific forward-looking statements, e.g. statements including terms like “believe“, “assume“, “expect“, "target" “forecast“, “project“, “may“, “could“, “might“, “will“ or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may result in a substantial divergence between the actual results, financial situation, development or performance of the Company or any of its affiliates or subsidiaries and those explicitly or implicitly presumed in these statements. These factors include, but are not limited to: (1) general market, macroeconomic, governmental and regulatory trends, (2) movements in securities markets, exchange rates and interest rates and (3) other risks and uncertainties inherent in our business. In addition, currently, it is very difficult to provide a meaningful prediction on how the governmental actions in response to the ongoing outbreak of a novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and other COVID-19 related factors will affect Leonteq's operations and how long such measures will remain in place. The COVID-19 outbreak has caused, and may continue to cause, uncertainty, economic instability and a significant decrease of total economic output in the affected areas and globally. The impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the general economic environment in the markets in which Leonteq operates remain uncertain and could be significant. Against the background of these uncertainties, you should not rely on forward-looking statements. Neither the Company nor any of its affiliates or subsidiaries or their respective bodies, executives, employees and advisers assume any responsibility to prepare or disseminate any supplement, amendment, update or revision to any of the information, opinions or forward-looking statements contained in this press release or to adapt them to any change in events, conditions or circumstances, except as required by applicable law or regulation.