Kuwait Finance House Bahrain – Ratings Lowered following Bahrain Sovereign Rating Action

8 April 2026

Capital Intelligence Ratings (CI Ratings or CI) today announced that it has lowered the Long-Term Foreign Currency Rating (LT FCR) of Kuwait Finance House B.S.C. (KFHB or the Bank) to ‘BBB+’ from ‘A-’. The Outlook for the Bank’s LT FCR has been affirmed at Stable, and the Short-Term Foreign Currency Rating (ST FCR) is affirmed at ‘A2’. At the same time, KFHB’s Bank Standalone Rating (BSR) has been lowered to ‘bbb-’ (from ‘bbb’), with the Outlook on the BSR maintained at Stable. The Core Financial Strength (CFS) rating is affirmed at ‘bbb+’, and the Extraordinary Support Level (ESL) remains High.

The rating action follows the recent downgrade of Bahrain’s LT FCR to ‘B’ from ‘B+’, with the Outlook revised to Stable, and the related lowering of the adjusted Operating Environment Risk Anchor (OPERA) for KFHB to ‘bb’ from ‘bb+’ (indicating moderate risk). These changes were driven by the ongoing deterioration in…