OREANDA-NEWS. On March 25, 2009 The Standard and Poor's has affirmed the international credit ratings of the Kapitalbank Open Joint-Stock Commercial Bank at B-/Stable/С.

This rating was awarded in November 2008 at the time of especially difficult situation in the world markets, when nearly all world indexes collapsed.

Despite the adjustment of forecasts for many large banks by almost all rating agencies, having carefully looked at the current activity of the banks of Uzbekistan, targeted policy of the Uzbek Government on minimization of the consequence of the world financial crisis and the measures taken to strengthen the financial system of the country, and having analyzed the activity of the bank itself, its strategic orientation and the results of the year 2008, the analysts of Standard and Poor's kept the rating without changes.

As stated in the full rating report of the agency placed at the Standard and Poor's official website, the "stable" implies the likely stability of the expansion of business and commercial network of Kapitalbank, its profitability and capital growth indicators. We expect that the implementation of the strategic tactics will allow Kapitalbank to strengthen its business and financial positions. Today the Kapitalbank's network consists of seven branches and 35 operational divisions, located in the most economically developed regions of Uzbekistan. By 2011 the Bank plans to increase the number of its branches and operational divisions to 20 and 60 respectively and thereby ensure the coverage of all regions of the country.

The analysts of Standard and Poor's specifically emphasized three main factors of stability and successful business development, which keep the current ratings up:

1) Financial reporting – the auditor from the Big Four, acceptable level of information disclosure: Kapitalbanks compiles annual consolidated reports in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards. Ernst & Young has been the auditor for the bank since 2004.

2) Profitability – positive indicators on the main activity: "reduction in profitability in the medium-term could only happen in light of aggressive growth."

3) Capital size – sufficient: "The size of the bank's capital calculated in accordance with the IFRS is adequate: in 2007-2008 the Capital to Risk Weighted Assets ratio ranged from 11.9% to 12.3%."

This evaluation by the internationally recognized company should grow the trust of the depositors, strengthen partnership relations between the clients and the bank and put confidence about the correctness of the strategy chosen by the bank's management.

The next time the Standard and Poor's should affirm a credit rating for Kapitalbank in May this year.