OREANDA-NEWS. National Rating Agency has lowered its credit rating on Finstone LLC's Series 01 Bonds (Reg. No. 4-01-36431-R, ISIN code: RU000A0JUDX9) to 'BBB+' and placed it on its Watchlist with indefinite implications. The bonds were assigned NRA's first-time credit rating of 'AA-' on Jan. 17, 2014. On Sep. 22, 2015, the rating was affirmed at the same level, and the Negative rating outlook (assigned on Jan. 14, 2015) was left unchanged.

The credit rating of Finstone LLC's series 01 bonds will be under scrutiny from the time of its Watchlist placement. A Watchlist placement does not mean that the rating has been suspended, but indicates that the Rating Agency may take a rating action in the near term.

The rating downgrade reflects NRA's decision to stop taking into account the support from one of the issuer's strategic partners, although there are non-public guarantees in place. The indefinite rating outlook reflects the significant increase of risks related to the issuer's investments, debt burden and growth strategy in the context of adverse market conditions at a time when no meaningful external support is available. NRA viewed the external support as a key factor mitigating the potential credit risks associated with the issue-related obligations.