Fitch повысило рейтинги Каспийского банка (Казахстан)

/REUTERS, Лондон, 14.01.05/ - Международное рейтинговое агентство Fitch Ratings повысило в четверг долгосрочный рейтинг казахстанского банка Каспийский до "В" с "В-", а индивидуальный - до "D" с "D/E". В то же время агентство подтвердило краткосрочный рейтинг кредитной организации на уровне "В", а рейтинг поддержки - на уровне "5". Прогноз изменения долгосрочного рейтинга остается позитивным, говорится в сообщении Fitch. Повышение и позитивный прогноз отражают улучшение показателей Каспийского банка, его хорошую капитализацию, повышение диверсификации бизнеса и успешное его развитие, отмечают аналитики Fitch. Ниже приводится оригинальный текст сообщения агентства Moody's на английском языке. FITCH UPGRADES KAZAKHSTAN`S BANK CASPIAN London, January 13, 2005 - Fitch Ratings, the international rating agency, has today upgraded Kazakhstan-based Bank Caspian's ("Caspian") Long-term rating to 'B' from 'B-' (B minus), and Individual rating to 'D' from 'D/E'. At the same time, the agency has affirmed the bank's other ratings at Short-term 'B' and Support '5'. The Outlook on the Long-term rating remains Positive. The upgrade and the Positive Outlook reflect the stronger performance of Caspian, its sound capitalisation, the improved diversification and maturity profile of funding, as well as the bank's successful business development. However, the ratings remain constrained by the bank's relatively small, albeit growing, size and market share, high but declining concentration in the loan portfolio, and risks inherent in the bank's very rapid asset growth. Caspian's performance was good in 2003 and outstanding in 9M04 (return on equity of 47.56%) on the back of a growing volume of high yielding retail express loans and tight overhead controls. At end-9M04, retail lending accounted for around 19% of the loan book, and this proportion is set to rise further in 2005. Asset quality has so far been reasonable at about 2% of impaired loans in the loan book at end-Q304. However, this needs to be carefully controlled given the bank's very rapid loan growth, the untested nature of the express loan market in Kazakhstan and the degree of concentration in lending (at end-9M04, the top 10 borrowers accounted for 25% of the loan book). High internal capital generation, capital injections from shareholders and subordinated debt issuance resulted in a sound Basel total capital adequacy ratio of 20% at end-Q304 (Tier 1 ratio of 11%, or 15% including retained profits). In Q404, a further USD17m equity contribution (equal to 30% of end-Q304 equity) was made by the bank's shareholders. Notwithstanding the bank's strong growth plans, capital ratios should remain sound in 2005 due to current capital levels, forecast profit retention and planned capital-raising activities. The tenor of funding has been lengthening primarily due to issues of long-term domestic bonds and, unlike many other CIS banks, Caspian does not have a high degree of concentration in its customer accounts. The policy to keep cumulative liquidity gaps positive is prudent, and is supported by Caspian's sizeable portfolio of relatively liquid Kazakh government securities. At end-Q304, Caspian had total assets of KZT65.4 billion, making it the ninth largest commercial bank in Kazakhstan, with around 3% share of the banking system's assets. It is primarily a corporate bank, with its main clients from the trade, engineering, construction and agricultural sectors. However, in 2003 it also began actively penetrating the retail market, pioneering point-of-sale express- lending in Kazakhstan. [2005-01-14]