OREANDA-NEWS. May 03, 2011. The international rating agency Fitch Ratings (hereinafter - Fitch) announced the upgrade of a number of ratings of JSC “Halyk Bank” (hereinafter – the Bank or Halyk) (http://www.halykbank.kz/eng). The Bank’s long-term foreign and local currency issuer default ratings (hereinafter - IDR) and senior unsecured debt were upgraded to 'BB-' from 'B+'. The support rating was raised to '4' from '5' and the individual rating to ‘D’ from ‘D/E’. Also Fitch affirmed the Bank’s short-term foreign and local currency IDRs at ‘B’ level each. Fitch outlook on the Bank’s ratings remains ‘Stable’, reported the press-centre of Halyk Bank.

”The Bank’s new ratings are the highest among the local commercial banks, excluding some where the major stake belongs to foreign investors”, said Mrs. Umut Shayakhmetova, the CEO of the Bank. She also added that ratings upgrade has been an anticipated event. In 2010 the Bank’s operating activities started gaining in momentum. Halyk’s profitability has increased as compared to the previous two years and remained the highest among the Bank’s peers. The loan portfolio of the Bank is well provisioned and its quality has been stabilizing since the mid of 2010. In January 2011 Halyk placed a USD 500 million benchmark Eurobond - the first public transaction for a private sector CIS bank since May, 2008. In March 2011 the Bank exercised its part of a call option in respect of the Bank’s shares and repurchased 213,000,000 common shares from Samruk-Kazyna.

“We appreciate that Fitch upgraded the ratings of Halyk. In our view they reflect the Bank’s stable financial condition as well as strong position on the market and will settle in more confidence in our business partners and investors”, summarised Mrs. Shayakhmetova.

About Halyk Bank
Halyk Bank is one of Kazakhstan's leading financial services groups and a leading retail bank with the largest customer base and distribution network among Kazakhstan banks. The Bank is developing as a universal financial group offering a broad range of services (banking, pensions, insurance, leasing, brokerage and asset management) to its retail customers, small and medium enterprises and corporate clients. As at 1 January 2011, Halyk Bank had total assets of KZT 2,098 billion and shareholders’ equity of KZT 318 billion.