Banco Agromercantil de Guatemala S.A. 'BB-/B' Ratings Withdrawn At Issuer's Request

MEXICO CITY (S&P Global Ratings) April 5, 2019--S&P Global Ratings withdrew at 
issuer's request its 'BB-' long- and 'B' short-term global scale issuer credit 
ratings (ICRs) on Banco Agromercantil de Guatemala S.A. (BAM). At the same 
time, we withdrew our 'BB-' issue-level rating on Intertrust SPV (Cayman) Ltd.'
s $300 million senior notes due April 10, 2019. Intertrust SPV acts as trustee 
of the Agromercantil Senior Trust. BAM fully guarantees the notes, so the 
rating on them was the same as the long-term ICR on the bank. At the time of 
the withdrawal, the outlook was stable. 

At the time of the withdrawal, the global scale rating on BAM reflected our 
view of it as a core subsidiary of Grupo Bancolombia. This was because of 
BAM's integration with the overall group strategy and its business risk 
similar to that of its parent group. The rating on BAM also incorporated its 
large market share in Guatemala, particularly in the corporate lending 
segment, which helps the bank to maintain operating revenue stability. Despite 
the uncertain economic and political conditions, the bank's deposit-based 
funding is one of its main strengths, and it provides BAM with enough 
liquidity to face short-term obligations. Additionally, BAM's quality of 
capital has remained sound due to a high-quality capital base that consists of 
paid-in capital, reserves, and retained earnings. On the other hand, the high 
share of dollar-denominated loans in the portfolio is a significant 
vulnerability for the bank if the Guatemalan quetzal weakens against the 
dollar. Nonetheless, the quetzal-dollar exchange rate has remained stable 
during the past few years.