Nurbank says Standard & Poor's affirmed the bank's ratings, outlook revised from "Negative" to "Stable"

/KASE, March 16, 2020/ – Nurbank (Almaty), whose securities are officially listed on Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE), has provided KASE with the following press release dated March 12, 2020: quote S&P Global Ratings international rating agency upgraded outlook on Nurbank's ratings to "Stable." At the same time, the agency affirmed Nurbank's long-term and short-term credit ratings on the international scale at B-/B and a long-term rating on the national scale at "kzBB-". The opinion of S&P Global Ratings’ experts is based on thorough analysis of the results of the Assets Quality Review of (AQR) of Nurbank and a number of other banks in the country conducted by the National Bank of Kazakhstan with the involvement of international consultants. Let us remind that Nurbank became a member of the Program for Improving the Financial Sustainability of the Banking Sector of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Under the terms of the Program, the Bank will issue subordinated bonds for 15 years in the amount of KZT48.6 billion, and the Bank will receive a guarantee of the Fund of Problem Loans for a period of five years (worth KZT20.9 billion) to maintain the bank's capitalization. In addition, it is planned to inject capital in the amount of KZT20.9 billion from a major shareholder of Nurbank. "Upgrade of the forecast, along with the affirmation of the rating by the international rating agency, is an important event for us. This confirms once again that the course of development that we have chosen is correct. Participation in the Program, together with the support of the shareholder will allow us to lend more actively and thus contribute to the development of the real sector of the economy, participate in government programs to support large, small and medium-sized businesses, which is always a priority for us," Eldar Sarsenov, chairman of the Management Board of Nurbank, said. unquote [2020-03-16]