After firing Chief executive officer Eivind Kolding yesterday, Danske Bank A/S Chairman Ole Andersen promised that the bank would be making all the right steps to improve its credit rating. Danske's ratings are A- at Standard & Poor's, A at Fitch Ratings and Baa1 at Moody's Investors Service. Credit derivative traders saw the bank more riskier than other competitors in Sweden.
In an interview from Copenhagen, Andersen said, "It is a very high priority to get our credit rating back to where it should be. If we somehow can accelerate our strategy implementation to secure a ratings upgrade happens sooner rather than later, then that's what we should do."
Kolding had said to investors months after his appointment to CEO that he would be enhancing shareholder returns once Danske accelerates its credit ratings. Investors, in October, instead absorbed USD1.3 billion in new shares to aid the bank to meet financial regulators' new rule to add 5 percentage points to capital reserve requirements.
Kolding, who has been heading AP Moeller Maersk A/S's container shipping unit, would be replaced by Thomas Borgen. Kolding was made unavailable by Danske for comment.
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