S&P повысило долгосрочные рейтинги банка ТуранАлем до "В+" с "В"

/REUTERS, Нью-Йорк, 18.04.02/ - Международное рейтинговое агентство Standard & Poor's повысило в среду долгосрочные рейтинги второго по величине казахстанского банка ТуранАлем до "В+" с "В". S&P сообщило, что повышение рейтинга отражает улучшение экономической ситуации в Казахстане, а также укрепление финансового положения и конкурентоспособности банка. Прогноз рейтингов - стабильный. Агентство также подтвердило рейтинги краткосрочных обязательств ТуранАлема на уровне "С". Рейтинг, присвоенный S&P обязательствам Казахстана в местной валюте - "ВВ+", в иностранной - "ВВ", прогноз - стабильный. Ниже следует полный текст сообщения Standard & Poor's на английском языке: "Standard & Poor's said today it raised its long-term counterparty credit and certificate of deposit ratings on Kazakhstan's second-largest bank, Bank TuranAlem (BTA), to single-'B'-plus from single-'B'. The rating actions reflect the improved, but still high-risk, economic environment in the Republic of Kazakhstan (local currency, BB+/Stable/B; foreign currency, BB/Stable/B), as well as positive developments within the bank's shareholder base and financial profile. The outlook is stable. At the same time, Standard & Poor's affirmed its single-'C' short-term counterparty credit and certificate of deposit ratings on the bank. "The ratings on BTA reflect the bank's strengthening market position in commercial and retail banking, its relatively diversified client base in loans and deposits, and its growing retail funding base," said Magar Kouyoumdjian, an associate at Standard & Poor's Financial Services Group. Mr. Kouyoumdjian continued: "The rapid expansion of loans since 1999 has put pressure on core capitalization. In addition, the Kazakh economic and banking environment, with limited and concentrated lending opportunities, and a history of high arrears in corporate payments, increases risks for all banks operating in the country." BTA's rapid loan growth over the past three years has outpaced the market and left the bank relatively vulnerable to an economic downturn, although BTA's good credit evaluation procedures and low level of nonperforming loans mitigate this risk to some degree. The bank's earnings outlook is good due to increased lending and fee-generating products and services. Shrinking margins and the disappearance of extraordinary items (such as translation gains following the stabilization of the Kazakhstan tenge), however, emphasize the need to manage costs more efficiently. BTA is well placed to take advantage of the current positive economic trend in Kazakhstan. "The bank is adapting to the changing nature of Kazakhstan's banking market, currently characterized by shrinking margins and smaller foreign exchange gains, through product and revenue diversification," said Mr. Kouyoumdjian. Standard & Poor's views BTA's high growth in a fragile system with caution, however, in light of the bank's short track record and fairly weak core capital. A complete list of rating actions is available to subscribers of RatingsDirect, Standard & Poor's Web-based credit analysis system, at www.ratingsdirect.com. They are also available on Standard & Poor's public Web site at www.standardandpoors.com; under Rating Actions, select Newly Released Ratings Listings." [2002-04-18]