Russian rating agency RAEX (Expert RA) has affirmed Mezhtrustbank's creditworthiness rating at B++. In line with the agency's rating scale, this rating corresponds to "the acceptable level of creditworthiness".
The bank's rating was removed from rating watch, the outlook was raised from developing to stable, which means the strong likelihood of the rating being held at this level over the medium term.
The agency's analysts pointed to well-balanced assets and lending institution in the short-term (N2 equals 110.5%, N3 is 218% as of April 1) and long-term (N4 is 6.9%) outlooks. The rating is also backed by low currency risks accepted by the bank (the maximum open position in a currency equaled 1% of capital) and the acceptable level of overdue debt (overdue debt against the aggregate credit portfolio equaled 3.4% as of April 1, 2015).
The lender's creditworthiness is limited by low business profitability (from April 1, 2014 through April 1, 2015 its ROE after taxes equaled -33.4% excluding income derived from property received on a gratuitous basis). "As of April 1, 2015 the bank's equity declined 17.5% compared to the highest level over the past 12 months," said Stanislav Volkov, director for banking ratings at RAEX, adding that the implementation of the plans to upsize capital to Rub 1 bln within 2015 would tangibly back the bank's rating.
