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

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