Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 23
Trend:
International rating agency Fitch confirmed the long-term IDR rating of Azerbaijani AccessBank at 'BB+', outlook stable, according to the bank's message.
The viability rating, assessing the stand alone risk without taking into account potential shareholder support was upgraded from 'B+' to 'BB-', the bank said.
"The assessment of Fitch reflects AccessBank's successful development and achievements. The bank maintains the highest credit rating in the Azerbaijani banking sector ('BB+'). We are in particular proud on the upgrade of our viability rating (VR) to 'BB'- which confirms the successful work of the entire team during recent years," AccessBank CEO Michael Hoffmann said, commenting on the rating action.
The upgrade of AccessBank's VR to 'BB-' from 'B+' reflects the bank's extended track record of sound performance in a challenging operating environment, its sound financial metrics in terms of profitability, asset quality and capitalization, and strong governance and management.
AccessBank was founded in 2002 by BSTDB, EBRD, IFC, KfW, the German consulting company LFS Financial Systems (LFS) and Access Holding. AccessBank concentrates on lending to micro and SME businesses.
The bank has wide branch network through Azerbaijan and employs 1,857 staff.