International rating agency Fitch Ratings has affirmed long-term IDRs that were assigned to three Russian mid-sized banks, namely Bank Intesa (at BBB-), Rosevrobank (at BB-), and Bank Peresvet (B+). The outlook for Intesa's rating is negative, and stable for those of Rosevrobank and Bank Peresvet. The full list of rating actions is given in the agency's press release.
The affirmation of Intesa's IDR reflects Fitch's viewpoint that the bank, if necessary, will obtain support from its end parent company (Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A). This opinion is based on the strategic role that Bank Intesa plays in further business expansion of the Italian group in Russia, the low cost of potential support that may be needed, the single brand and potential reputation risks of the group in case of the subsidiary bank's default, analysts note.
The agency specified that Bank Intesa's long-term foreign currency IDR is constrained by Russia's country ceiling of BBB-, and the bank's long-term local currency IDR also takes into account country risks. The negative outlook for the bank's ratings reflects a similar outlook for Russia's sovereign ratings.
Rosevrobank's and Bank Peresvet's IDRs and national scale ratings are driven by their creditworthiness that is reflected in their sustainability ratings.
The affirmation of sustainability ratings at three banks (Rosevrobank's at bb-, Bank Intesa's and Bank Peresvet's at b+) reflects their, overall, stable financial indicators and limited deterioration of the asset quality (however, much worse deterioration at Bank Intesa) amid weak economic environment and acceptable capital adequacy ratios. As a negative factor the sustainability ratings reflect limited and fairly concentrated client bases and balance sheets of the banks. Rosevrobank's sustainability rating is a notch higher than those of two other banks due to much stronger financial indicators throughout the economic cycle.
