Cornerstone/Barita Boss Welcomes A & A+ Ratings, Committed to National Growth Agenda

Barita deputy chairman, Paul Simpson, is welcoming the assignment of an A+ rating to the entity by regional agency, the Caribbean Information and Credit Rating Services Limited, CariCRIS.

In a statement this week, CariCHRIS assigned a jmA+ (Local Currency Rating) on the Jamaica national scale to Barita Investments Limited, a development which presents a major boosts to the investment firm.

Mr. Simpson says the development augurs well for the entity.

“CariCHRIS Initial Issuer/Corporate Credit Ratings of CariBBB+ (Foreign Currency Rating) and CariA- (Local Currency Rating) on the regional rating scale, and jmA (Foreign Currency Rating) and jmA+ (Local Currency Rating) on the Jamaica national scale to Barita Investments Limited (Barita or the Company”, the regional ratings agency stated.

According to CariCHRIS, the foreign currency regional scale rating indicates that the level of creditworthiness of Barita, adjudged in relation to other obligors in the Caribbean, is adequate.

CariCHRIS says the local currency regional scale rating indicates that the level of creditworthiness of this obligor, adjudged in relation to other obligors in the Caribbean, is good.

The agency says the national scale ratings indicate that the level of creditworthiness of this obligor, adjudged in relation to other obligors in Jamaica, is good”, the agency indicated in its statement.

CariCRIS has also assigned to Barita a stable outlook on the ratings.

Meantime, Barita’s parent company, Cornerstone also received good news with CariCHRIS announcing a jmA- (Foreign Currency Rating) and jmA (Local Currency Rating) on the Jamaica national rating scale.

“CariCRIS) has reaffirmed the assigned issuer/corporate credit ratings of CariBBB (Foreign Currency Rating) and CariBBB+ (Local Currency Rating) on the regional rating scale and jmA- (Foreign Currency Rating) and jmA (Local Currency Rating) on the Jamaica national rating scale to Cornerstone Financial Holdings Limited (CFHL or the Company)”, the entity stated in a media release.

“We welcome the development. It is a major result of deliberate team effort. We view this as additional motivation for our company to continue to move from strength to strength. Importantly, the Cornerstone Group believes in financial inclusion. We believe in playing our part in assisting the mission of getting the Jamaican economy to expand by more sizeable margins”, Mr. Simpson commented.

Cornerstone is currently awaiting a no-objection from the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) concerning to its 70.1 per cent acquisition stake in Bermuda’s Clarien Group in a move which it has touted as important to the company’s development and Jamaica’s growth prospects.

Last week news emerged that Cornerstone is now awaiting a no-objection go-ahead pertaining to its 70.1 per cent acquisition stake in Bermuda’s Clarien Group.

A well placed source told our news centre on the weekend that ministerial representatives of the Governments of Jamaica and Bermuda communicated over the past few days concerning the completion of the acquisition which is awaiting the no-objection from the central bank in Jamaica.