INVESTEC LIMITED - Investec Limited - Credit rating actions by Fitch Ratings

Investec Limited - Credit rating actions by Fitch Ratings

Investec Limited                                    Investec plc
Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa        Incorporated in England and Wales
Registration number 1925/002833/06                  Registration number 3633621
JSE share code: INL                                 LSE share code: INVP
NSX share code: IVD                                 JSE share code: INP
BSE share code: INVESTEC                            ISIN: GB00B17BBQ50
ISIN: ZAE000081949

As part of the dual listed company structure, Investec plc and Investec Limited notify both the
London Stock Exchange and the JSE Limited of matters which are required to be disclosed
under the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules and Listing Rules of the United
Kingdom Listing Authority and/or the JSE Listing Requirements.

Accordingly, we advise of the following:

Investec Limited - Credit rating actions by Fitch Ratings

In line with the Debt Listing Requirements of the JSE Limited requiring issuers of listed debt
in South Africa to notify the market in the event of amendments to the credit rating of the
issuer, shareholders and noteholders are referred to the Fitch Ratings (Fitch) press release
on 31 March 2020 and the rating actions taken on South African bank holding companies,
including the ratings of Investec Limited.

Fitch has downgraded the Long-Term Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) and Viability Rating (VR)
of Investec Limited to 'BB' and 'bb' (from BB+ and bb+), respectively. The Outlook on the
IDRs has remained Negative. Investec Limited’s National Long-Term Rating was also
downgraded, and the Outlook revised to Negative from Stable.

According to Fitch, the rating action is driven by Fitch’s expectation of a negative impact from
the coronavirus outbreak on the South African banks' operating environment and key financial
metrics, notwithstanding uncertainty as to the full economic and financial market implications.

The specific rating changes for Investec Limited are as follows:
   - Long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings: Downgraded to BB (from
      BB+); outlook negative
   - National long-term rating: Downgraded to AA-(zaf) (from AA(zaf)); outlook revised to
      negative (from stable)
   - Viability Rating: Downgraded to bb (from bb+)

In addition, rating actions (as shown below) were also taken by Fitch and Moody’s on Investec
Bank Limited (100%-owned subsidiary of Investec Limited) alongside other South African
banks. The South African sovereign ratings act as a ceiling whereby the ratings of South
banks cannot be above that of the sovereign.

The downgrades, taken in isolation of any other matters, are expected to have an immaterial
impact on Investec’s risk weighted assets and therefore the impact on regulatory capital is
also expected to be immaterial. In addition, the downgrades are expected to have a small
impact on Investec Limited’s cost of funds over time, as a result of Investec Limited being
predominantly domiciled in South Africa and raising most of its deposits and funding in the
closed rand system, with very little mismatch between foreign denominated funding and
foreign denominated assets.
The specific rating changes for Investec Bank Limited are as follows:


Fitch                                                              To               From
  Long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings      BB                BB+

  National long-term rating                                     AA-(zaf)            AA(zaf)

  Viability Rating                                                 bb                bb+

  Senior unsecured long-term rating                                BB                BB+

  Subordinated National long-term rating                         A(zaf)            AA-(zaf)




Moody’s                                                            To               From
  Long-term deposits (foreign and domestic)                       Ba1                Baa3
  Short-term deposits (foreign and domestic)                       NP                P-3
  Long-term counterparty risk (foreign and domestic)              Baa3               Baa2
  Short-term counterparty risk (foreign and domestic)             P-3                P-2
  Senior unsecured (domestic)                                     Ba1                Baa3
  Senior unsecured MTN (foreign)                                 (P)Ba1            (P)Baa3
  Subordinate MTN and Tier III Debt MTN (foreign)                (P)Ba2             (P)Ba1
  Baseline credit assessment                                      ba1                baa3

Investec Limited is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and houses the Investec
Group’s Southern African operations). Investec plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange
(with a secondary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange) and houses the Investec
Group’s non-Southern African operations). From a creditors perspective the entities (and their
respective banking subsidiaries) are separately ring-fenced legal entities, which are reviewed
and rated separately by Rating Agencies.

This announcement relates to Investec Limited only as required by the JSE Debt Listing
Requirements.

The Fitch and Moody’s press releases can be accessed at www.fitchratings.com and
www.moodys.com respectively.


Johannesburg and London

2 April 2020

Sponsor:
Investec Bank Limited

Date: 02-04-2020 01:00:00
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