TORONTO, July 4, 2012 /CNW/ - Equitable Group Inc. (TSX: ETC and
ETC.PR.A) and its subsidiary The Equitable Trust Company, one of
Canada's leading alternative mortgage lenders, today announced that
DBRS has initiated credit rating coverage of the Company's debt
instruments.
"We are pleased to have successfully achieved investment grade ratings
on the senior debt of Equitable Group Inc., and on the deposits, senior
debt, and subordinated debt of The Equitable Trust Company," said
Andrew Moor, President and CEO of Equitable Group Inc. "These ratings
reflect the solid financial position of our Company and the quality of
our growing asset base."
The DBRS ratings are:
-
BBB on the deposits and senior debt of Equitable Trust
-
BBB (low) on the subordinated debt of Equitable Trust
-
BBB (low) on the senior debt of Equitable Group Inc.
Equitable Trust's current capital levels are in excess of both current
and proposed future (Basel III) regulatory standards and more than
sufficient to support the Company's ongoing growth. As a result, the
Company has no immediate need to raise capital to fund its operations.
Investment grade ratings are nonetheless important as they provide
support in the event the Company wishes to refinance its existing debt
at lower rates on maturity or redemption or raise additional capital in
future to fund incremental growth opportunities.
DBRS is a globally recognized provider of timely credit rating opinions
that offer insight and transparency across a broad range of financial
institutions, corporate entities, government bodies and various
structured finance product groups in North America, Europe, Australasia
and South America.
ABOUT EQUITABLE GROUP INC.
Equitable Group Inc. is a niche mortgage lender. Our primary business is
first charge mortgage financing, which we offer through our wholly
owned subsidiary, The Equitable Trust Company. Founded in 1970,
Equitable Trust is a federally incorporated trust company. It actively
originates mortgages across Canada. It serves single family, small and
large commercial borrowers and their mortgage advisors. It also serves
the investing public as a provider of insured Guaranteed Investment
Certificates. Equitable Trust is active in providing GICs across all
Canadian provinces and territories. Equitable Group's shares are traded
on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbols ETC and ETC.PR.A
respectively. Visit the Company on line at www.equitabletrust.com and click on Investor Relations.
Cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements
Statements made by the Company in this news release, in other filings
with Canadian securities regulators and in other communications include
forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities
laws ("forward-looking statements"). These statements include, but are
not limited to, statements about the Company's objectives, strategies
and initiatives, financial result expectations and other statements
made herein, whether with respect to the Company's businesses or the
Canadian economy. Generally, forward-looking statements can be
identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans",
"expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled",
"planned", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does
not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases
which state that certain actions, events or results "may" , "could",
"would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved."
Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results,
level of activity, closing of transactions, performance or achievements
of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or
implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited
to risks related to capital markets and additional funding
requirements, fluctuating interest rates and general economic
conditions, legislative and regulatory developments, the nature of our
customers and rates of default, and competition as well as those
factors discussed under the heading "Risk Management" in the
Management's Discussion and Analysis and in the Company's documents
filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. All material assumptions used in making forward-looking statements are
based on management's knowledge of current business conditions and
expectations of future business conditions and trends, including their
knowledge of the current credit, interest rate and liquidity conditions
affecting the Company and the Canadian economy. Although the Company
believes the assumptions used to make such statements are reasonable at
this time and has attempted to identify in its continuous disclosure
documents important factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there
may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated,
estimated or intended. Certain material assumptions are applied by the
Company in making forward-looking statements, including without
limitation, assumptions regarding its continued ability to fund its
mortgage business at current levels, a continuation of the current
level of economic uncertainty that affects real estate market
conditions, continued acceptance of its products in the marketplace, as
well as no material changes in its operating cost structure and the
current tax regime. There can be no assurance that such statements will
prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ
materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly,
readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements
that are contained herein, except in accordance with applicable
securities laws.
