Standard & Poor's today downgraded its outlook on Irish Life & Permanent and group member Irish Life Assurance to "negative" from stable.
The outlook revision reflects S&P's view that market disruption and a higher cost of funding pressure the underlying financial performance of IL&P's banking operations.
S&P also affirmed "A+/A-1" long- and short-term counter-party credit ratings on the two companies.
The ratings reflects the bank's sound liquidity position due to the high level of structural liquidity of its large portfolio of European Central Bank (ECB), which provides eligible mortgage assets, and the IL&P's asset quality will remain solid, going some way toward supporting profitability, said S&P.