Press Release

Morningstar DBRS Confirms Credit Ratings on Tagus - Sociedade de Titularização de Créditos, S.A., Viriato Finance No. 1

Consumer Loans & Credit Cards
August 12, 2024

DBRS Ratings GmbH (Morningstar DBRS) confirmed its credit ratings on the notes (collectively, the rated notes) issued by Tagus - Sociedade de Titularização de Créditos, S.A., Viriato Finance No. 1 (the Issuer):

-- Class A notes at AA (low) (sf)
-- Class B notes at A (high) (sf)
-- Class C notes at BBB (high) (sf)
-- Class D notes at BB (high) (sf)
-- Class E notes at B (sf)

The credit rating on the Class A notes addresses the timely payment of scheduled interest and the ultimate repayment of principal by the legal final maturity date in October 2040. The credit ratings on the Class B, Class C, Class D, and Class E notes address the ultimate payment of interest while junior to other outstanding classes of notes but the timely payment of scheduled interest when they are the senior-most tranche, and the ultimate repayment of principal by the final maturity date.

CREDIT RATING RATIONALE
The confirmations follow an annual review of the transaction and are based on the following analytical considerations:
-- Portfolio performance, in terms of delinquencies, defaults, and losses, as of the June 2024 payment date;
-- Probability of default (PD), loss given default (LGD), and expected loss assumptions on the remaining receivables; and
-- Current available credit enhancement to the rated notes to cover the expected losses at their respective credit rating levels.

The transaction is a securitisation of Portuguese unsecured consumer loan receivables originated by WiZink Bank S.A.U., Portuguese Branch. The transaction closed in September 2021 and included an initial 12-month revolving period, which ended on the September 2022 payment date, when the rated notes started to amortise on a pro rata basis. As of the June 2024 payment date, the EUR 78.1 million portfolio (excluding defaulted receivables) consisted of fixed-rate unsecured amortising personal loan receivables granted without a specific purpose for existing credit card customers (crédito adicional) and further advances (top-up) to private individuals domiciled in Portugal.

PORTFOLIO PERFORMANCE
As of the June 2024 payment date, loans that were one to two months and two to three months delinquent represented 1.2% and 0.8% of the portfolio balance, respectively, while loans more than three months delinquent represented 1.8%. Gross cumulative defaults were 6.4% of the original portfolio balance, with cumulative recoveries of 44.9% to date.

PORTFOLIO ASSUMPTIONS AND KEY DRIVERS
Morningstar DBRS conducted a loan-by-loan analysis of the remaining pool of receivables and maintained its base case PD and LGD assumptions at 8.2% and 20.0%, respectively.

CREDIT ENHANCEMENT
The subordination of the junior obligations provides credit enhancement to the rated notes. As of the June 2024 payment date, credit enhancement to the Class A, Class B, Class C, Class D, and Class E notes was 24.0%, 20.0%, 12.0%, 6.5%, and 3.5%, respectively. The credit enhancement has remained stable because of the pro rata amortisation mechanism and will continue to remain stable until a sequential redemption event occurs.

The cash reserve account is available to cover senior expenses and interest shortfalls on the Class A, Class B, and Class C notes. The cash reserve account was funded at closing with EUR 1.3 million and its required balance is set at 1.0% of the outstanding Class A, Class B, and Class C notes, subject to a EUR 0.7 million floor. The cash reserve has always been at its target level and, as of the June 2024 payment date, stood at EUR 0.7 million.

Elavon Financial Services DAC (Elavon) is the account bank provider for the transaction. Based on the Morningstar DBRS' private credit rating on Elavon and the downgrade provisions outlined in the transaction documents, Morningstar DBRS considers the risk arising from the exposure to the account bank to be consistent with the credit ratings assigned to the rated notes, as described in Morningstar DBRS' "Legal Criteria for European Structured Finance Transactions" methodology.

BNP Paribas SA (BNP Paribas) is the swap counterparty for the transaction. Morningstar DBRS' public credit rating on BNP Paribas is consistent with the credit ratings assigned to the rated notes, as described in Morningstar DBRS' "Derivative Criteria for European Structured Finance Transactions" methodology.

Morningstar DBRS' credit ratings on the applicable classes address the credit risk associated with the identified financial obligations in accordance with the relevant transaction documents. Where applicable, a description of these financial obligations can be found in the transactions' respective press releases at issuance.

Morningstar DBRS' long-term credit ratings provide opinions on risk of default. Morningstar DBRS considers risk of default to be the risk that an issuer will fail to satisfy the financial obligations in accordance with the terms under which a long-term obligation has been issued.

ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL, AND GOVERNANCE CONSIDERATIONS
There were no Environmental/Social/Governance factor(s) that had a significant or relevant effect on the credit analysis.

A description of how Morningstar DBRS considers ESG factors within the Morningstar DBRS analytical framework can be found in the Morningstar DBRS Criteria: Approach to Environmental, Social, and Governance Risk Factors in Credit Ratings https://dbrs.morningstar.com/research/427030.

Morningstar DBRS analysed the transaction structure in Intex Dealmaker.

Notes:
All figures are in Euros unless otherwise noted.

The principal methodology applicable to the credit ratings is Master European Structured Finance Surveillance Methodology (6 August 2024) https://dbrs.morningstar.com/research/437540.

Other methodologies referenced in this transaction are listed at the end of this press release.

Morningstar DBRS has applied the principal methodology consistently and conducted a review of the transaction in accordance with the surveillance section of the principal methodology.

A review of the transaction legal documents was not conducted as the legal documents have remained unchanged since the most recent credit rating action.

For a more detailed discussion of the sovereign risk impact on Structured Finance credit ratings, please refer to "Appendix C: The Impact of Sovereign Credit Ratings on Other Morningstar DBRS Credit Ratings" of the "Global Methodology for Rating Sovereign Governments" at: https://dbrs.morningstar.com/research/436000.

The sources of data and information used for these credit ratings include payment reports and investor reports provided by InterMoney Titulización S.G.F.T., S.A. and loan-level data provided by European DataWarehouse GmbH.

Morningstar DBRS did not rely upon third-party due diligence in order to conduct its analysis.

At the time of the initial credit rating, Morningstar DBRS was supplied with third-party assessments. However, this did not affect the credit rating analysis.

Morningstar DBRS considers the data and information available to it for the purposes of providing these credit ratings to be of satisfactory quality.

Morningstar DBRS does not audit or independently verify the data or information it receives in connection with the credit rating process.

The last credit rating action on this issuer took place on 29 September 2023, when Morningstar DBRS confirmed its credit ratings on the Class A, Class B, Class C, Class D, and Class E notes at AA (low) (sf), A (high) (sf), BBB (high) (sf), BB (high) (sf), and B (sf), respectively.

Information regarding Morningstar DBRS credit ratings, including definitions, policies, and methodologies, is available on https://dbrs.morningstar.com.

Sensitivity Analysis: To assess the impact of changing the transaction parameters on the credit rating, Morningstar DBRS considered the following stress scenarios as compared with the parameters used to determine the credit rating (the base case):
-- Morningstar DBRS expected a lifetime base case PD and LGD for the pool based on a review of the current assets. Adverse changes to asset performance may cause stresses to base case assumptions and therefore have a negative effect on credit ratings.
-- The base case PD and LGD of the pool of loans for the Issuer are 8.2% and 20.0%, respectively.
-- The risk sensitivity overview below illustrates the credit ratings expected if the PD and LGD increase by a certain percentage over the base case assumption.

Class A Risk Sensitivity:
-- 25% increase in LGD, expected credit rating of A (high) (sf)
-- 50% increase in LGD, expected credit rating of A (high) (sf)
-- 25% increase in PD, expected credit rating of A (high) (sf)
-- 50% increase in PD, expected credit rating of A (sf)
-- 25% increase in PD and 25% increase in LGD, expected credit rating of A (sf)
-- 25% increase in PD and 50% increase in LGD, expected credit rating of A (sf)
-- 50% increase in PD and 25% increase in LGD, expected credit rating of BBB (high) (sf)
-- 50% increase in PD and 50% increase in LGD, expected credit rating of BBB (high) (sf)

Class B Risk Sensitivity:
-- 25% increase in LGD, expected credit rating of A (sf)
-- 50% increase in LGD, expected credit rating of A (sf)
-- 25% increase in PD, expected credit rating of A (sf)
-- 50% increase in PD, expected credit rating of A (low) (sf)
-- 25% increase in PD and 25% increase in LGD, expected credit rating of BBB (high) (sf)
-- 25% increase in PD and 50% increase in LGD, expected credit rating of BBB (high) (sf)
-- 50% increase in PD and 25% increase in LGD, expected credit rating of BBB (sf)
-- 50% increase in PD and 50% increase in LGD, expected credit rating of BBB (sf)

Class C Risk Sensitivity:
-- 25% increase in LGD, expected credit rating of BBB (sf)
-- 50% increase in LGD, expected credit rating of BBB (sf)
-- 25% increase in PD, expected credit rating of BBB (sf)
-- 50% increase in PD, expected credit rating of BB (high) (sf)
-- 25% increase in PD and 25% increase in LGD, expected credit rating of BB (high) (sf)
-- 25% increase in PD and 50% increase in LGD, expected credit rating of BB (high) (sf)
-- 50% increase in PD and 25% increase in LGD, expected credit rating of B (high) (sf)
-- 50% increase in PD and 50% increase in LGD, expected credit rating of B (high) (sf)

Class D Risk Sensitivity:
-- 25% increase in LGD, expected credit rating of B (high) (sf)
-- 50% increase in LGD, expected credit rating of B (high) (sf)
-- 25% increase in PD, expected credit rating of BB (low) (sf)
-- 50% increase in PD, expected credit rating of B (low) (sf)
-- 25% increase in PD and 25% increase in LGD, expected credit rating below B (low) (sf)
-- 25% increase in PD and 50% increase in LGD, expected credit rating below B (low) (sf)
-- 50% increase in PD and 25% increase in LGD, expected credit rating below B (low) (sf)
-- 50% increase in PD and 50% increase in LGD, expected credit rating below B (low) (sf)

Class E Risk Sensitivity:
-- 25% increase in LGD, expected credit rating below B (low) (sf)
-- 50% increase in LGD, expected credit rating below B (low) (sf)
-- 25% increase in PD, expected credit rating of B (low) (sf)
-- 50% increase in PD, expected credit rating below B (low) (sf)
-- 25% increase in PD and 25% increase in LGD, expected credit rating below B (low) (sf)
-- 25% increase in PD and 50% increase in LGD, expected credit rating below B (low) (sf)
-- 50% increase in PD and 25% increase in LGD, expected credit rating below B (low) (sf)
-- 50% increase in PD and 50% increase in LGD, expected credit rating below B (low) (sf)

For further information on Morningstar DBRS historical default rates published by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) in a central repository, see: https://registers.esma.europa.eu/cerep-publication.
For further information on Morningstar DBRS historical default rates published by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in a central repository, see https://data.fca.org.uk/#/ceres/craStats.

These credit ratings are endorsed by DBRS Ratings Limited for use in the United Kingdom.

Lead Analyst: Preben Cornelius Overas, Assistant Vice President
Rating Committee Chair: Alfonso Candelas, Associate Managing Director
Initial Rating Date: 17 September 2021

DBRS Ratings GmbH
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Tel. +49 (69) 8088 3500
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The credit rating methodologies used in the analysis of this transaction can be found at: https://dbrs.morningstar.com/about/methodologies.

-- Legal Criteria for European Structured Finance Transactions (28 June 2024),
https://dbrs.morningstar.com/research/435165
-- Master European Structured Finance Surveillance Methodology (6 August 2024),
https://dbrs.morningstar.com/research/437540
-- Operational Risk Assessment for European Structured Finance Servicers (6 August 2024),
https://dbrs.morningstar.com/research/437543
-- Interest Rate Stresses for European Structured Finance Transactions (28 June 2024),
https://dbrs.morningstar.com/research/435278
-- Derivative Criteria for European Structured Finance Transactions (28 June 2024), 
https://dbrs.morningstar.com/research/435260
-- Rating European Consumer and Commercial Asset-Backed Securitisations (8 January 2024),
https://dbrs.morningstar.com/research/426219
-- Rating European Structured Finance Transactions Methodology (25 June 2024),
https://dbrs.morningstar.com/research/434970
-- Morningstar DBRS Criteria: Approach to Environmental, Social, and Governance Risk Factors in Credit Ratings (23 January 2024),
https://dbrs.morningstar.com/research/427030

A description of how Morningstar DBRS analyses structured finance transactions and how the methodologies are collectively applied can be found at: https://dbrs.morningstar.com/research/278375.

For more information on this credit or on this industry, visit https://dbrs.morningstar.com or contact us at info-DBRS@morningstar.com.

Ratings

  • US = Lead Analyst based in USA
  • CA = Lead Analyst based in Canada
  • EU = Lead Analyst based in EU
  • UK = Lead Analyst based in UK
  • E = EU endorsed
  • U = UK endorsed
  • Unsolicited Participating With Access
  • Unsolicited Participating Without Access
  • Unsolicited Non-participating