OREANDA-NEWS. July 12, 2012. RIA Rating Agency (RIA Novosti Group) assigned its ‘A+’ national scale credit rating to Bank Petrocommerce with ‘stable’ outlook.

‘A+’ rating means that the Bank is ranked in the category of borrowers with a high level of creditworthiness. The Bank’s financial standing is deemed to be good. The Bank is characterized as "capable of performing the complete scope of its obligations in due course", which is explained by its low reliance on external markets.

The rating rationale says that "one of the major drivers underpinning the Bank’s credit rating is financial support, which, if needed, may be provided by its beneficial owners possessing substantial financial resources as well as the fact that the Bank is a part of one of the major diversified holdings of Russia — IFD Kapital Group, with total equity of over USD 5 bln and assets of over USD 11 bln".

The analysts of RIA Rating also note high liquidity indicators of the Bank, which are mainly explained by favourable funding situation. In particular, Bank Petrocommerce is the strategic partner and the main settlement bank of LUKOIL in the ruble zone. This fact considerably increases predictability of customer cash flows and, therefore, reduces risks of brusque uncontrollable shrinking of liabilities. "Instant and current liquidity ratios of Bank Petrocommerce are quite sustainable and considerably exceed the regulatory floor, which is especially important on the background of lower liquidity levels in the Russian banking system. The probability of material liquidity losses threatening the Bank’s stability is negligible", — says the agency’s press release.

The press release also mentions that an important positive impact on the Bank’s credit standing evaluation is exerted by its stable and loyal customer base, which is well diversified across various regions and industries.