The credit ratings service at Standard & Poor’s said that it revised its outlook for Bank Otkritie’s ratings from stable to positive and affirmed the bank’s long and short-term counterparty credit ratings at В+/В.
The revised outlook reflects the upcoming merger of Bank Otkritie and Bank of Khanty-Mansiysk in the next 12 months. A bank to be established through the merger would engage in retail and SME services, while Otkritie Financial Corporation would serve large and mid-sized enterprises. The new bank’s assets would most likely be roughly Rub 570 bln as of year-end 2014, which would turn the bank into a Top 15 lending institution in Russia. As its assets would account for about 40% of the consolidated assets held by Otkritie Bank Group, the bank would be of greater strategic importance for the group, as a result of which the new bank could be assessed as the group’s ‘key’ subsidiary.
The agency said in a press release that the merged bank’s management and strategy would be deeply integrated into the group’s management and strategy, while official duties of leading executives would cover both the merged bank and the group.
