OREANDA-NEWS. Renaissance Capital, the leading emerging and frontier markets investment bank, today announced its financial results for the full year ending 31 December 2016. During the reporting period, the net profit from the core business amounted to $11mn.

Operating income reached $134mn. Revenue was supported by the consistent YoY performance of the Equities division as well as the improved performance of the Debt Capital Markets franchise, on the back of a recovery in debt capital markets in Russia. Renaissance Capital completed a number of complex Russian Eurobond issues, including for the State Transport Leasing Company (GTLK), Polyus Gold, Promsvyazbank, and the CHF500mn bond for Gazprom, the first international corporate new issue out of Russia in 2016among others.

Other notable deals in 2016 included accelerated bookbuilds for South Africa’s Rhodes Food Group and Georgia’s TBC Bank, the latter appointing Renaissance Capital as its joint corporate broker. The Eurobond placement of State Transport Leasing Company (GTLK), which was jointly led by Renaissance Capital, won the ‘Best Primary Eurobond Deal in 2016’ at the Cbonds Awards in December 2016.

At the same time, the operating environment remained challenging across Renaissance Capital’s core markets throughout 2016. Low volatility and trading volumes in Russia and Nigeria prevented revenue growth from the core business.

Operating expenses decreased 24% YoY to $113mn as a result of continuous cost-focus measures. The equity-to-assets ratio stood at a healthy 14%. Total assets and equity amounted to $3,390mn and $471mn, respectively, at 31 December 2016.

In October 2016, Fitch Ratings revised its outlook on the investment bank’s holding company Renaissance Financial Holding Limited's (RFHL) Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to Stable from Negative. The IDR was affirmed at 'B-'. According to Fitch, the revision of the outlook to Stable reflected reduced pressure on RFHL's performance and risk profile due to the stabilisation of the Russian operating environment. Fitch noted that the positive change in the outlook is due to an extended record of stable operations and liquidity management since the takeover of the investment bank in 2012.

Renaissance Capital was recognised as the top Frontier Brokerage in the prestigious Extel 2016 Survey. Beyond the historical strength in Russia and Sub-Saharan African markets, 2016 saw the inaugural Egypt and Pakistan investor conferences, and the rollout of research coverage in Bangladesh as well as expanded coverage across all the core Frontier geographies.