Moody's присвоило рейтинг "Ваа2" евробондам Казкоммерцбанка на $150 млн

/REUTERS, Алматы, 04.02.05/ - Международное рейтинговое агентство Moody's присвоило рейтинг "Ваа2" дополнительной эмиссии евробондов Казкоммерцбанка, которая, как ожидается, не превысит $150 миллионов, говорится в сообщении агентства. Прогноз рейтинга - "стабильный". Ниже приводится оригинальный текст сообщения агентства Moody's на английском языке. MOODY'S RATES KAZKOMMERTS INTERNATIONAL'S BOND Baa2 New-York, February 3, 2005 - Moody's Investors Service has assigned a rating of Baa2 (stable outlook) to the issue of senior unsecured notes by Kazkommerts International B.V., unconditionally and irrevocably guaranteed by Kazkommertsbank of Kazakhstan (KKB). The amount of the placement is not expected to exceed US$150 million and will be consolidated and form a single series with KKB's US$350 million 7.0% Notes due 2009 (issued in 2004). The rating of KKB's senior unsecured debt has pierced Kazakhstan's Baa3 sovereign ceiling for bonds. The level of the rating reflects the important role the bank plays in the country's economy. Moody's notes that the likelihood of KKB receiving support from the government in case of distress is very high and is the primary driver of the ratings. Moody's ratings also take into account the fact that KKB is the largest bank in Kazakhstan, and over a relatively short period has been able to develop an important franchise in the domestic, corporate and retail markets. At the same time, Moody's will be closely monitoring the bank's refinancing risk, which under unfavourable market conditions could result in a liquidity strain, and which has grown considerably over the last few years as the bank tapped international capital markets with a number of sizeable issues some of which mature in the same year. Higher dependence on market funding has increased such refinancing risk and is placing negative pressure on the bank's debt ratings. The rating also reflects the probability of a sovereign default implied by the Kazakhstani government's low investment-grade Baa3 (positive outlook) foreign currency bond rating, and the likelihood that the Kazakhstani government could impose a debt moratorium in the event of default on its own foreign currency obligations. At the same time KKB's foreign currency deposit rating of Ba1 (positive outlook) is constrained by the country ceiling for such deposits. The rating also addresses the risk that any such moratorium might include foreign currency bonds and that the bank's bonds might be particularly affected. Because the banking system is an arm of the government's monetary and foreign exchange policy, Moody's believes that, in general, banks may have a lower probability of having their bonds exempted from a moratorium than, say, a major exporter. The rating, therefore, indicates the joint probabilities of default that are contained in the foreign currency ceiling and in the local currency rating of individual issuers. A discussion of the rationale behind these credit evaluations is detailed in Moody's report "Emerging Market Bank Ratings in Local and Foreign Currency: The Implications of Country Risk and Institutional Support," and in Moody's rating methodology "Piercing the Country Ceiling: An Update." Kazkommertsbank is headquartered in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and had total consolidated assets of KZT571.9 billion (US$4.25 billion) at 30 September 2004. [2005-02-04]