On December 15, 2021, Moody’s Investors Service (“Moody’s”) announced its decision to upgrade the long-term deposit rating of ForteBank JSC to Ba2 from Ba3, the  outlook is “Stable”. Previous upgrade of the Bank’s rating by Moody’s took place in December 2020. Back then, the agency upgraded the long-term deposit rating of ForteBank to Ba3 from B1, the outlook was “Stable”.

This is not the first positive ratings action for ForteBank JSC in 2021. In September 2021, S&P Global Ratings international rating agency revised ForteBank’s ratings outlook to “Positive” from “Stable” , raised national scale rating from “kzBBB” to “kzBBB+” and affirmed  the long-term and short-term ratings at “B+/B”. Fitch Ratings agency, in its turn, upgraded the Bank’s long-term rating to “B+” from “B” and revised the outlook from “Stable” to “Positive”. 

**According to Moody’s analysts**, this rating action recognizes substantially decreased uncertainties over the Bank's asset risk, following the sharp contraction in problem loans since the beginning of this year. The rating action also recognizes improvement in the Bank's core profitability and Forte's maturing business profile.

**Note:**
ForteBank ranks among the top five largest banks of Kazakhstan and is one of the most stable, liquid and well-capitalized banks in the country. The Bank has 20 branches and about 100 outlets. The Bank was awarded by the leading international periodicals for multiple times. Thus, during the last 12 months, ForteBank has been recognized as the best bank in Kazakhstan according to Euromoney, Asiamoney and Global Finance.


Contacts

Investor Relations
Tel. +7 (7172) 58 75 75 (ext. 10249)
E-mail: IR@fortebank.com

Press Office
Tel.: +7 (7172) 59 99 99 (ext. 10868, 10975) 


Moody’s international rating agency upgrades rating of ForteBank

Mr. Yeldar Abdrazakov is appointed the head of the Board of Directors of ForteBank

(NUR-SULTAN, November 30th, 2021) – The Board of Directors of ForteBank has appointed Mr. Yeldar 
Abdrazakov, the founder and the head of Centras Group, the Chairperson of the Board of Directors, starting from
December 1st, 2021. Mr. Abdrazakov will replace Mr. Marlen Mirzabekov on this post, who has been heading the
Board of Directors since 2019.

This appointment relates to further improvement of the strategic management efficiency of the Board of Directors
and to Mr. Yeldar Abdrazakov’s intention to buy into ForteBank. This participation on the part of the Chairperson
of the Board of Directors of ForteBank shall contribute to further growth of capitalization and stable development
of the financial institution.

Mr. Yeldar Abdrazakov commented on his appointment: “Over the last three years, I have been involved in the
Board of Directors affairs. The Bank adheres to the highest quality standards and possesses a strong growth
potential. It is an attractive investment for us. We plan to invest up to 10% shares of the bank. I am grateful to the
core shareholder Mr. Bulat Utemuratov for this invitation and for the opportunity to participate in successful
development of ForteBank”.


Contacts
Tel. +7 (7172) 59 99 99 (ext. 10808)

Mr. Eldar Abdrazakov is appointed the head of the Board of Directors of ForteBank

On September 22, 2021, the international rating agency Fitch Ratings upgraded the Long-Term Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) of ForteBank to “B+” from “B” and revised the outlook from “Stable” to “Positive”. The national scale rating has been upgraded by two notches from “BB+(kaz)” to “BBB(kaz)”, and Viability Rating (VR) has been upgraded from “b” to “b+”. 

On September 17, 2021, the international rating agency S&P Global Ratings  revised ForteBank’s ratings outlook to “Positive” from “Stable”, raised national scale rating from “kzBBB” to “kzBBB+” and affirmed  the long-term and short-term ratings at “B+/B”.

**According to Fitch Ratings analysts**, the upgrade of Long-Term IDRs and VR, as well as the outlook revision, reflects a material reduction of pressure on the bank’s capitalization from legacy asset-quality risks. The rating action also captures a record of the Bank’s strong profitability. Moreover, the Bank’s funding and liquidity profile is a rating strength.  The Bank’s liquidity cushion is solid,  covering 50% of the customer accounts at the end of the first half of 2021. 

**According to S&P analysts**, the rating outlook of ForteBank has been revised from “Stable” to “Positive” due to stabilizing economic conditions, sustainable business position of Fortebank and positive dynamic of the Bank’s assets quality improvement. The return on equity (ROE) for the first half of 2021 has exceeded 20% on a year over year basis.

While commenting on the news, the acting Chairperson of the Management Board of ForteBank **Mrs. Sholpan Nurumbet** has noted: 

*«We welcome the positive rating actions of Fitch Ratings and S&P, two out of three largest global rating agencies. ForteBank is one of the most stable, solvent and well-capitalized universal banks in the country. Forte is a rapidly developing ecosystem of the financial and non-financial products and services aimed at making our customers’ lives more comfortable, including ForteMarket marketplace, ForteForex online foreign exchange platform, ForteMobile, ForteFood and others. All of this allows us to retain high efficiency and demonstrate positive results.»*

**During last 12 months, ForteBank has been recognized as the best bank in Kazakhstan according to such international periodicals as Euromoney, Asiamoney and Global Finance, as well as the bank of the year according to the international magazine The Banker.**

Contacts

Investor Relations
Tel. +7 (7172) 58 75 75 (ext. 10249)
E-mail: [IR@fortebank.com](mailto:IR@fortebank.com)

Press Office
Tel.: +7 (7172) 59 99 99 (ext. 10868, 10975) 


ForteBank informs on ratings upgrade

Nur-Sultan city, July 30th, 2021 – ForteBank Joint Stock Company located at the address: 8/1, Dostyk str., Nur-Sultan city, Z05P1P0/010017, Republic of Kazakhstan (hereinafter referred to as the “Bank”), hereby reports the changes in the membership of the Management Board of the Bank.

According to the resolution of the Board of Directors of the Bank (dated June 29th, 2021, minutes № 20), the powers of Mr. Guram Andronikashvili as the Chairman of the Management Board of the Bank shall be terminated on July 30th, 2021, due to him being elected as a member of the Board of Directors of the Bank and a representative of the interests of Mr. Bulat Utemuratov, the stockholder of the Bank.

Effective from August 2nd, 2021, the Board of Directors of the Bank appoints Mrs. Sholpan Nurumbet, who has previously held the position of the Deputy Chairwoman of the Management Board of the Bank, as the Acting Chairwoman of the Management Board of the Bank.


Information on changes in the membership of ForteBank JSC Management Board

Press Release

Nur-Sultan
July 30, 2021

Guram Andronikashvili to retire as ForteBank Chairman of the Management Board 

Fortebank announced today that its current Chairman of the Management Board, Guram Andronikashvili is retiring from his post, and will continue in a new role as member of the Supervisory  Board from August 1, 2021. Deputy Chairman of the Management Board, Sholpan Nurumbet, is appointed as acting Chairman of the Management Board as of that date. 

“I would like to thank Guram for his work over the last several years. Under his leadership Fortebank demonstrated stable asset growth combined with excellent financial performance, continually growing its client base and improving customer service and product offering. Significant progress was made in digitalisation of the bank and transformation of internal corporate culture. I am confident that this has laid an excellent foundation for further success of Forte”, commented Bulat Utemuratov, majority shareholder of ForteBank.     

Guram Andronikashvili was appointed as the Chairman of the Management Board of ForteBank in February 2018. During his management term For the bank demonstrated stable asset growth with continuous improvement of capitalisation and liquidity metrics. Over the last three years net income of the bank increased 2.7 times, from 20 bn tenge in 2017 to 53 bn tenge (c. US$130mm) in 2020, with return on equity improving from 10.2% to 21.2%. Continuous improvement in profitability coupled with conservative growth of loan portfolio and focused risk management culture allowed the bank to maintain high level of stability, which was noted by all three rating agencies. As a part of strategic development under management of Guram Andronikashvili, bank underwent internal digital transformation and a number of new ecosystem products were launched (ForteMarket – digital marketplace, ForteMobile – mobile service package, ForteForex – p2p foreign exchange). Just in 2020 number of retail clients using ForteApp increased by 38.3% and number of corposate clients using Forte internet banking increased by 35.8%.   

“I would like to express my gratitude to the shareholder of the bank, Mr Bulat Utemuratov, for his trust, guidance and support over the period of last 11 years during which I have worked for Forte. I am sure that going forward I will be able to continue supporting the bank, but in a new role as a member of the supervisory board. I would also like to thank all my colleagues for their exceptional dedication in shaping Forte. Together, we have successfully transformed Forte from a small bank that was one of the smallest in the country in 2010 to one of the leading universal banks and a growing ecosystem in Kazakhstan. Over the last several years we have proven our financial strength by comfortably passing the Asset Quality Review (AQR) and regulatory stress tests, operated effectively during the Covid-19 pandemic and at the same time delivered record financial and operational performance.  As a part of the implementation of our strategy, Forte made huge steps in working out our historical heritage loan portfolios from Alliance and Temir banks, completely upgraded our IT architecture and infrastructure and created new data gathering and analytical platform - Forte DataLake, built out significant digital capabilities and developed our own app for individual clients and legal entities (to be released in the nearest future).  All this allowed us to offer quality new products and services to our clients, including beyond banking ecosystem products, the number of which is growing from year to year, and to create a high-quality platform for the further development of Forte,” commented Guram Andronikashvili, Chairman of the Management Board of ForteBank.






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