/KASE, September 23, 2021/ – ForteBank (Nur-Sultan), whose securities are
officially listed on Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE), has provided KASE with
the following press release dated September 23, 2021:
quote
On September 22, 2021, the international rating agency Fitch Ratings upgraded
ForteBank's long-term issuer default rating (IDR) from "B" to "B+", improving
the outlook from "Stable" to "Positive". The rating on the national scale was
upgraded by two notches from "BB+(kaz)" to "BBB(kaz)", and the sustainability
rating was upgraded from "b" to "b+".
On September 17, 2021, the international rating agency S&P Global Ratings
improved the outlook on ForteBank's ratings from "Stable" to "Positive",
upgrading the rating on the national scale from "kzBBB" to "kzBBB+" and
affirming the long- term and short-term ratings at the level of "B+/B".
According to analysts at Fitch Ratings, the upgrading of the long-term IDR and
sustainability rating, as well as the improved outlook, reflect a significant
decrease in pressure on the bank's capitalization due to risks associated with
the quality of legacy distressed assets. Also, the rating action is caused by
the bank's high profitability indicators. In addition, the strengths of the
rating are funding and liquidity. The bank has a solid liquidity cushion
covering 50% of client deposits at the end of the first half of 2021.
According to S&P analysts, the outlook on the rating of ForteBank has been
revised from "Stable" to "Positive", thanks to the stabilization of the economic
situation, the stability of ForteBank's business position and positive dynamics
in improving the quality of the bank's assets. The return on equity (ROE) of
the bank for the first half of 2021 exceeded 20% in annual terms.
unquote
The full press release is available on KASE website at –
https://kase.kz/files/emitters/ASBN/asbn_reliz_230921_1.pdf
[2021-09-23]