CRELAN : Embarking on a new chapter

Crelan is a Belgian cooperative banking group, founded in 1937, which is ranked 5th in its domestic market following the takeover of Axa Bank Belgium in 2021. The migration of IT systems and merging of legal entities were completed in 2024. Therefore, 2025 marks the beginning of the next phase, dubbed "Transforming the bank". And the recently announced agreements with Crédit Agricole set the tone. Crelan is looking to diversify its commercial offering to reduce its dependence on interest rates. It also needs to boost its profitability by harnessing cost synergies, the driving rationale behind the ABB deal. And it must do so while maintaining strong capital ratios, consistent with Basel requirements.
Crelan has tapped the market five times in the past, issuing four SNP bonds and one Tier 2 debt. And the debt maturity profile promises the group's continued presence in the market in the years ahead.
We reiterate our Stable credit opinion on Crelan (12-month) even as Moody's has already upgraded the group by one notch and S&P could upgrade it to a similar level in the coming months. We are reiterating our Buy recommendation, in view of the credit strength of the credit and the spread pick-up offered by Crelan bonds compared with peers such as Argenta and Volksbank, and also Spanish banks.