Baku, Azerbaijan, June 4
By Ilkin Shafiyev - Trend:
Fitch Ratings has confirmed Azerbaijani Expressbank's long-term issuer default rating at 'B' with “Stable” outlook, the ratings agency reports June 4.
At the same time, Fitch withdrew the rating of Azerbaijan's AtaBank in connection with the bank's refusal to participate in the rating.
"The confirmation of Expressbank’s rating reflects the stabilization of quality of the bank's assets, solid buffer stock of capital, reduced impact of foreign currency risks and sufficient liquidity. At the same time, the high level of lending by the bank to the affiliated parties and the limited size of the commercial network are taken into account in the rating. The stable rating reflects our expectations that the bank will continue to gradually reduce its operations with affiliated parties. At the same time, the risk associated with the rapid growth of operations related to affiliated parties can be compensated by buffer stock of capital," the message says.
According to the results of 1Q2018, the share of problem loans of the bank accounted for 3 percent of the total loan portfolio, as a whole, not having changed since the end of 2017, and was fully covered by the total reserves. The restructured loans accounted for 2 percent of the loan portfolio.
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