ICRA Nepal Withdraws Laxmi Sunrise Bank Issuer Rating, Places Debenture Rating on Watch
ICRA Nepal has withdrawn Laxmi Sunrise Bank’s issuer rating at the bank’s request and placed the rating of its Rs. 2 billion subordinated debenture on Watch with Negative Implications during the six-month withdrawal notice period.
ICRA Nepal has withdrawn the outstanding issuer rating of Laxmi Sunrise Bank Limited (LSL) at the bank’s request. At the same time, the credit rating agency has placed the rating of the bank’s Rs. 2 billion subordinated debenture on a six-month notice period for withdrawal.
The bank’s previous issuer rating of [ICRANP-IR] BBB@ has been discontinued. Meanwhile, the [ICRANP] LBBB@ rating assigned to the 10% Laxmi Bank Debenture 2086 remains on Watch with Negative Implications during the mandatory notice period.
ICRA Nepal said the withdrawal process has been carried out in line with the Credit Rating Regulations, 2011, and its internal policies on rating withdrawal and suspension.
The agency stated that it had attempted to obtain sufficient information to continue monitoring the bank’s credit profile. However, Laxmi Sunrise Bank formally requested discontinuation of the ratings. Due to limited access to ongoing information, ICRA Nepal has cautioned lenders, investors and other market participants that the existing ratings may no longer fully reflect the bank’s current credit risk profile.
Laxmi Sunrise Bank was formed through the merger of Laxmi Bank and Sunrise Bank in July 2023. Major business groups, including the Khetan Group, Shanghai Group and Dugar Group, collectively hold around 51% of the bank’s promoter stake.
According to provisional figures for the fiscal year ending mid-July 2026, the bank reported net profit after tax of around Rs. 3.117 billion, down from Rs. 4.062 billion a year earlier. Its total assets stood at approximately Rs. 511.809 billion, while loans and advances amounted to around Rs. 315.9 billion.
The bank’s gross non-performing loan (NPA) ratio increased to 5.23%, compared with 4.25% in the previous year. Its capital adequacy ratio (CRAR) stood at 12.03%, with Tier I capital at 9.90%. Meanwhile, the cost of average deposits declined to 3.50% from 4.91% a year earlier.
ICRA Nepal noted that, apart from publicly available updates, it had not identified any additional underlying changes in the bank’s credit risk profile before receiving the formal request for rating withdrawal.