Moody’s upgraded the cédulas hipotecarias of Ibercaja, Abanca, Banco CEISS and Caja Rural de Granada yesterday (Thursday), following rating actions on a range of issuers upon improved credit conditions across the Spanish banking sector.

The upgrades come after Moody’s on Wednesday, as part of a swathe of rating actions on 10 Spanish banking groups, upgraded the Counterparty Risk (CR) assessment of Ibercaja Banco from Ba2 to Ba1 and that of Abanca Corporación Bancaria from Ba3 to Ba1.

“The main driver for the rating actions is the banking system’s improved credit conditions following the deleveraging of the private sector,” said Maria Cabanyes, senior vice president at Moody’s. “This positive development has been reflected in an improvement in Moody’s macro profile for Spain.

“The rating actions also incorporate Moody’s expectation of a sustained improvement in the banks’ asset risk metrics against a backdrop of solid economic growth in Spain and the progressive recovery of the country’s real estate market.”

Moody’s does not publish ratings for Banco CEISS and Caja Rural de Granada, but said yesterday that the issuers’ credit quality has improved.

As a result, the covered bond anchor for all four programmes is now higher.

Moody’s subsequently upgraded the cédulas hipotecarias of Ibercaja and Banco CEISS, both from A2 to A1, of Caja Rural de Granada, from A1 to Aa2, and of Abanca Corporación Bancaria, from A3 to A1.

Timely Payment Indicators (TPIs) of “probable” restrict the covered bond ratings of Abanca and Ibercaja, while the TPI leeways for Banco CEISS and Caja Rural de Granada are not published.