Russian rating agency RAEX (Expert RA) has lowered B&N Bank's credit rating to A (high level of creditworthiness), and changed the rating outlook to developing, RAEX's press service reported.
The bank's rating is positively affected by moderate concentration of active operations on companies associated with the high credit risk (as of March 1, 2016 the ratio between high credit risks and assets, net of provisions, equaled 25.6%) and the high likelihood of the bank's support by its current shareholders or new investors.
Analysts believe that the rating is dampened by Rost Bank's high leverage. The rating was also restrained by a reduction in the portion of high-liquidity assets in gross assets (down to 4.9% as of March 1, 2016 against the 2015 average of 6.4%). "The bank's asset quality deterioration in 2016 will take a toll on capital, but measures taken by the bank's shareholders to increase equity capital made it possible to set the developing outlook for the rating," RAEX pointed out.
