OREANDA-NEWS. May 06, 2011. International agency Moody’s Investors Service has affirmed the B2 long-term foreign and local currency deposit ratings of Azerbaijan’s Unibank OJSC.

The Bank reports that the Agency affirmed its bank financial strength rating (BFSR) at the level of E+.

The analysts of Moody’s believe that the Unibank’s current ratings reflect its satisfactory liquidity and capitalisation. Moody’s also observes that Unibank’s capitalisation is currently adequate, with Tier 1 and Total capital adequacy ratios of 12.3% and 16.9%, respectively by the end of 2010.

Against the background of high levels of reserves and the rising cost of raising finances, the Agency’s following ratings will be built on long-term profitability indicator. Moody’s considers that Unibank’s profitability now depends on further provisioning for loan portfolio and credit growth.

‘The affirmation of the current ratings confirms the productivity of the improved risk management system as well as the balancing of assets and liabilities by maturities, coupled with the overall increase in the efficiency of our work,’ comments Faig Huseynov, chairman of the Unibank Management Board.

He also emphasized that the growth of the Bank’s loan portfolio will ensure strong financial performance in 2011.

“The quality of Unibank’s loan portfolio will be much higher than the external analysts have forecast,” he added.

In the estimates Moody’s also notes that in the short term, if the bank shows steady growth in profitability and improvement of assets quality, its rating outlook can change to "stable".

Moody’s last rating action on Unibank was on 19 November 2008.