Standard & Poor’s upgraded the ratings of three cédulas hipotecarias and one cédulas territoriales programmes by one notch after having taken positive rating actions on five Spanish banks last Wednesday.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) cédulas hipotecarias (CHs) and cédulas territoriales were upgraded from A- to A and from BBB to BBB+, respectively, while Bankinter CHs were lifted from A to A+ and Deutsche Bank SAE CHs from AA- to AA.

These upgrades came after BBVA was upgraded from BBB- to BBB, Bankinter from BB to BB+, and Deutsche Bank SAE from BBB- to BBB.

The outlook on CaixaBank CHs was improved from stable to positive and on Kutxabank CHs from negative to stable, in line with changes to the outlooks on the issuer ratings.

The rating of BBVA’s CHs is on CreditWatch with positive implications as overcollateralisation levels could result in the covered bonds reaching a higher number of notches above the issuer credit rating than S&P currently assigns, it said.

Analysts noted that a pending review of S&P’s sovereign ceiling methodology could result in some cédulas being capped at lower rating levels.