OREANDA-NEWS. December 30, 2009. Ratings coverage by Finance magazine released mid-December shows Uniastrum to be one of Russia’s best banks for incremental growth in overall household lending

This year Uniastrum’s retail loan portfolio expanded 10.47% to Rb 19 bn as of November 1, 2009, accounting for 35% of the Bank’s working assets. Also, borrower default stayed below 5.5%, which is far lower than the market average, and is testament to Uniastrum’s reliability and stability.

All in all, on the basis of its 10M09 household lending result, Uniastrum secured itself a Top-5 placing in Finance magazine’s ratings list of Russia’s 50 leading banks.

For the record, earlier this month RosBusinessConsulting released its ratings report based on 9M09 results, which showed Uniastrum gaining a significant amount of ground in a number of rankings, thanks, first and foremost, to a sustained upward trend in business volumes, as well as to the progressive use of the Bank of Cyprus’s cutting-edges strategies and knowhow. As of October 1, 2009, Uniastrum ranked 17th by retail deposit volumes, which amounted to more than Rb 32 bn, a y-o-y increase of 20%. Based on its overall credit portfolio, which tipped the scales at over Rb 35 bn as of October 1, 2009, the Bank ranked 42nd.

RBC’s ratings list showed Uniastrum to be one of Russia’s Top-50 banks, occupying the No. 50 slot. As of October 1, 2009, the Bank’s net assets totaled Rb 60.8 bn, or up 18% on the year-earlier result. The lender was ranked 32nd by total liquid assets, which amounted to Rb 6.8 bn, i.e. almost double the prior-year showing, pushing up its ranking for this metric a solid ten places.

On December 14, Moody’s Investors Service affirmed Uniastrum’s long-term credit rating at Ba2 with a stable outlook, while Moody’s Interfax Rating Agency assigned the Bank a long-term national scale rating of Aa2.

“One of our most important business segments was and remains retail lending,” says Pavel Neumyvakin, Chairman of Uniastrum’s Management Board. “The Bank has always been sensitive to changes in the household credit market, and has been consistently innovative in offering clients practical products and services. Uniastrum’s retail business is one of its most promising and dynamic growth areas, and positive ratings coverage is further confirmation that we are moving in the right direction, and, needless to say, a definite boost for us.”