Moody's revises Alliance Bank trg outlook to positive

/REUTERS, New York, November 03, 04/ - Moody's Investors Service has changed the outlook on the Ba3 long-term foreign currency deposit rating and E+ financial strength rating (FSR) of Kazakhstan's Alliance Bank to positive from stable. Moody's said that the positive outlook on Alliance Bank's E+ FSR reflects - a gradually strengthening franchise as a result of the bank's expansion into retail banking and a more active focus on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs); - improving profitability as this type of lending is usually a higher-margin business; - a growing focus on technology; - declining customer concentrations on both sides of the balance sheet, thus reducing the bank's vulnerability to the performance of a small number of large borrowers and to withdrawals of chunky deposits; - maintained good asset quality and ample liquidity despite recent high growth; and - adequate capitalisation and plans to increase the capital substantially in the future. According to Moody's, the Ba3 deposit rating continues to incorporate an expectation of limited support from the Kazakhstani authorities, should the need arise, reflecting Alliance Bank's growing importance to the national banking system. However, Moody's cautioned that any external support from the country's financial authorities, in case of distress, might be of a limited nature; the extent and timeliness of such support are rather uncertain but are well captured in the Ba3 rating. Alliance Bank is headquartered in Almaty, Kazakhstan and had total IFRS-consolidated assets of KZT75.6 billion (US$560.1 million) as of 30 September 2004. [2004-11-03]