During the quarter, the ratings of the bonds were stable, in line with the stable ratings of their issuers, and after also taking into account the stable Aaa rating of the Australian sovereign.
The ratings of the four major banks are all Aa2, with a TPI leeway of 4 notches. Separately, Suncorp-Metway Ltd has an A1 rating, with a TPI leeway of 2 notches.
In addition, the average required over-collateralisation for the bonds of the four majors remained stable at 11.8% with an average committed over-collateralisation of 17.1%, down from 21.7% in Q1 2012. In the case of Suncorp-Metway Ltd, the figures were 24% and 25% respectively.
Moody's performance overview also includes for the first time Suncorp-Metway Ltd's covered bond program.
Since the four majors -- Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (Aa2/P-1), Commonwealth Bank of Australia (Aa2/P-1), National Australia Bank Ltd (Aa2/P-1), and Westpac Banking Corporation (Aa2/P-1) -- first issued covered bonds in 2011, total issuance has increased to AUD38.43 billion from AUD30.76 billion in Q1 2012. With the inclusion of Suncorp-Metway Ltd (A1/P-1), total issuance is now at AUD40.63 billion.
With the four majors, 58.1% of their covered bonds are denominated in EUR and USD and a further 26.3% in AUD. This compares to only half in USD and EUR and one third in AUD in Q1 2012. Suncorp-Metway Ltd's covered issuance has been all in AUD.
The weighted average loan-to-value of the cover pool assets of the four majors ranges between 59.6% and 63.8% (compared to 61%-64.3% in Q1 2012), while the average collateral score saw a minor improvement to 9.3% from 9.4%. Suncorp-Metway Ltd's weighted average loan-to-value for its cover pool is 67.2% and its collateral score is 14.75%.
Subscribers can access the performance overviews of the bonds at http://www.moodys.com/research/Australia-and-New-Zealand-Banking-Group-Limited-Covered-Bond-Programme--PBS_SF308529 for the ANZ program, http://www.moodys.com/research/Commonwealth-Bank-of-Australia-Covered-Bond-Programme--PBS_SF308530 for the CBA program, http://www.moodys.com/research/National-Australia-Bank-Limited--PBS_SF308531 for the NAB program, http://www.moodys.com/research/Westpac-Banking-Corporation-Covered-Bond-Programme--PBS_SF308533 for the Westpac program, and http://www.moodys.com/research/Suncorp-Metway-Limited-Covered-Bond-Programme--PBS_SF308532 for the Suncorp program. * * * *
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Jennifer Wu VP - Senior Credit Officer Structured Finance Group Moody's Investors Service Pty. Ltd. Level 10 1 O'Connell Street Sydney NSW 2000 Australia JOURNALISTS: (612) 9270-8102 SUBSCRIBERS: (612) 9270-8100 Kei Kitayama MD - Asia-Pac Structured Fin Structured Finance Group JOURNALISTS: (03) 5408-4110 SUBSCRIBERS: (03) 5408-4100 Releasing Office: Moody's Investors Service Pty. Ltd. Level 10 1 O'Connell Street Sydney NSW 2000 Australia JOURNALISTS: (612) 9270-8102 SUBSCRIBERS: (612) 9270-8100 (C) 2012 Moody's Investors Service, Inc. and/or its licensors and affiliates (collectively, "MOODY'S"). All rights reserved.
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