OREANDA-NEWS. November 28, 2011. Moody's Investors Service has assigned a B1.kz long-term national scale deposit rating (NSR) to Alfa-Bank Kazakhstan. The NSR carries no specific outlook. Concurrently, the following global scale ratings of Alfa-Bank Kazakhstan were affirmed: the standalone E+ bank financial strength rating (BFSR), which maps to B2 on the long-term scale; the B2 long-term foreign and local currency deposit ratings, and the Not Prime short-term foreign and local currency bank deposit ratings, reported the press-centre of KASE.

Moody's affirmation of Alfa-Bank Kazakhstan's global scale ratings is based on the bank's audited financial statements for 2010 prepared under IFRS, and its Q3 2011 unaudited results prepared under local GAAP.

RATINGS RATIONALE

According to Moody's, Alfa-Bank Kazakhstan's B1.kz NSR is derived from the bank's B2 long-term global local currency deposit rating and reflects the  relative standing of the bank's creditworthiness within its domicile country - Kazakhstan. The assignment of a B1.kz NSR reflects the bank's relatively stronger position compared with other domestic banks rated B2 on a global scale. Any future changes in Alfa-Bank Kazakhstan's NSR will be linked to the creditworthiness of the bank as reflected in the global scale ratings.

Moody's affirmation of Alfa-Bank Kazakhstan's global scale ratings, with a stable outlook, also reflects the bank's low visibility on the local market  due to its modest franchise - with market share of less than 1% of total assets - that characterises the bank as an evolving player in Kazakhstan. However, Alfa-Bank Kazakhstan has continued to actively develop its business and has doubled the volume of its assets over the past two years. From the financial standpoint, Alfa-Bank Kazakhstan maintains capital and liquidity cushions, and profitability that are relatively sufficient for its rating level - as at Q3 2011, the bank reported a Tier 1 capital adequacy ratio of 13.4%, liquid assets accounted for 52% of total liabilities, and return on average equity was 27%.