Bell Block’s TSB Bank chief executive Kevin Murphy has called a decision by international ratings agency Standard & Poor’s to give his bank a negative outlook for future credit ratings “ultra conservative”. In his opinion the assessment did not reflect the bank’s financial performance or position. Standard & Poors downgraded the status outlook for eight New Zealand banks, including TSB Bank, from stable to negative. It was the first time TSB Bank has had its outlook status revised to negative. It was also his opinion that “we need to be clear it’s not a reflection of the bank’s financial results. It’s a reflection of where Standard & Poor’s see the New Zealand economy and the potential impact it could have on banks,”. TSB Bank customers should not be concerned. Its annual results, which would be made public in two weeks time, ( Start of June 2013) were very positive.
