FRANKFURT (Reuters) – The credit rating agency S&P on Wednesday downgraded the rating of Deutsche Pfandbriefbank (PBB) on concerns about its exposure to the commercial real-estate sector and gave it a negative outlook.
The bank, which is one of Germany’s largest real estate financers, last week sought to reassure investors that it has enough funds to cope with a property slump that has cast a shadow over numerous banks that have lent to the sector.
S&P cut the rating to BBB-/A-3 from BBB/A-2.
“The negative outlook reflects our view that weak (commercial real estate) markets, notably in the U.S., could increase the cost of risk in PBB’s highly concentrated loan portfolio,” S&P said.
The bank declined to comment.
(Reporting by Tom Sims; editing by Diane Craft)
