On 13 November the international rating agency Moody′s Investors Service affirmed Center-invest Bank’s Ba3 rating for long-term local currency debt and foreign currency deposits, outlook stable, and its Aa3.ru long-term national scale rating. Center-invest Bank, southern Russia’s leading bank, is the only bank in the region to have had an international rating for seven years already.
The affirmation of Center-Invest Bank’s ratings reflects the bank’s entrenched franchise in its home market, where it has solid positions and accumulated expertise in the SME and retail banking segments; granular deposit base; good corporate governance and focused strategy compared with its peers; and robust profitability, sound capital adequacy and good efficiency.
Experts from Moody’s note that the current rating reflects Center-invest Bank’s strong market positions in Russia’s Southern Federal District. The bank’s broad base of retail and business customers, its extensive branch network, and the inclusion of international institutions and funds among its shareholders, all enable it to operate confidently in the local market. Center-invest Bank’s ratings have been upheld on the basis of its IFRS financial statements for 2012 and 1H 2013.
As at 01.10.2013, Center-invest Bank’s assets calculated under IFRS were RUR75.6bn; deposits totalled RUR49.4bn; the loan portfolio stood at RUR59.4bn, and profits at RUR1.0bn.
Moody’s analysts have shown that they approve of the sustainable banking business model being implemented by Center-invest Bank to encourage post-crisis modernization in southern Russia. By applying the latest knowledge and best international practice, Center-invest Bank has helped southern Russia’s best companies to enter new markets and compete in the new global economy.
For Center-invest Bank, sustainable banking is not just about social and environmental responsibility. Sustainable banking is a business model based on long-term profitability in the interests of current and future generations, rather than on immediate, speculative gains.