OREANDA-NEWS. RIA Rating has announced that it has upgraded the national scale credit rating of Bank Petrocommerce from ‘A+’ to ‘AA-’ with ‘stable’ outlook.

The Bank’s rating is underpinned by the improving quality of the Bank’s loan portfolio in 2012: the rationale issued by the agency indicates that the share of overdue loans went down from 7.6% at the beginning of 2012 to 5.8% as at 1 January 2013. The loan book structure by categories of quality also experienced positive changes.

Besides, the press release issued by the rating agency underlines the enhancement of the Bank’s major financial indicators, including "the increasing profitability and returns combined with a good level of liquidity". As per preliminary unaudited data for 2012 excluding events after the reporting date, the Bank’s net profit doubled as compared with 2011. According to RIA Rating, in 2012, the assets of Bank Petrocommerce increased by RUR 30 bln, or 14%, the retail and corporate loan portfolio grew by 18%, and individuals’ deposits went up by 14%. "Overall growth rates of Bank Petrocommerce in 2012 were comparable with those demonstrated by peer banks in terms of volume and business model, and even slightly higher for a number of indicators", reads the rationale.