The international rating agency Standard & Poor's upgraded the long-term and short-term credit ratings of Nurbank from 'B-/C' to 'B/B', and the national scale rating from 'kzBB-' to 'kzBB+'. The outlook is stable.
According to Rauan Daukenov, Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of JSC Nurbank, the ratings upgrade was facilitated by the improvement in Nurbank's capitalization indicators after the sale of problem loans to collection companies in November 2012 in the amount of 47.3 billion tenge.
According to S&P analysts, the 'stable' outlook reflects the bank's moderate business position, strong capitalization and profitability metrics, average funding indicators, and adequate liquidity indicators, as well as stable funding through deposits and the absence of large open market borrowings.
Meanwhile, the ratings upgrade reflects S&P's opinion that the bank will maintain high capitalization metrics over the next two years, and its profitability and asset quality indicators will gradually improve as a result of new business development.
"The confirmation of high international ratings under the current unstable situation in the domestic and external financial markets testifies to the strengthening of Nurbank's business position, its high creditworthiness and reliability. We will continue our efforts to improve the quality of the bank's assets," noted R. Daukenov.