Credit rating firm Standard & Poor’s has raised its credit ratings for 22 Dutch firms and cut them for 20, marking a turnaround in industry’s fortunes, the Financieele Dagblad reports on Wednesday.

It is the first time since 2007 that S&P has raised more firms than it has cut.
However, rival credit rating bureau Moody’s has cut its rating for 40 firms and raised it for 26, the paper says. This is a much stronger performance than last year, when 144 firms were downgraded.
However, both firms are less optimistic about Dutch financial institutions, the paper says.
S&P has cut its rating for SNS Reaal, KAS Bank and ABN Amro while Moody’s has marked down Friesland Bank, NIBC and insurance group Ageas.