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.






Guram Andronikashvili to retire as ForteBank Chairman of the Management Board 

ForteBank received the award as the Best Bank in Kazakhstan according to a authoritative international magazine Euromoney.

**Guram Andronikashvili, a Chairman of the Board of ForteBank**, commented on receiving of the award: *“On behalf of ForteBank, I would like to express my gratitude to  Euromoney jury for a high assessment of our work. This award confirms that despite the challenging times caused by the pandemic, our Bank has chosen the right strategy that allows us to grow and offer our clients high quality services and products. I am grateful to every Forte client for their trust and loyalty to the Bank, as well as to every Forte employee for hard work and contribution to the Bank's development."*

As **the editor of Euromoney magazine Lucy Fitzgeorge-Parker** notes, *“Prudent management and fast-paced innovation helped ForteBank consolidate its position as a rising star in Kazakhstan’s competitive banking market last year and make the number four lender a worthy winner of the award for best bank in Kazakhstan. Impressive returns were balanced by solid fundamentals, while the launch of a suite of ecosystem products put down a marker for future growth”.*

The **Euromoney** Award are given to the leaders in banking, finance and investment in 100 countries around the world since 1992 and is considered one of the most prestigious in the international financial world. Euromoney pays special attention to maintaining high standards of impartiality, fairness and accuracy in determining the winners. Editors, experts and analysts carefully examine the activities of each candidate bank, conduct their own market soundings with international correspondent banks, pick up brain of prominent financiers and bankers. The decision-making process usually takes two months. 

*According to Euromoney magazine editor Lucy Fitzgeorge-Parker: “Banks awarded by Euromoney as part of the Awards for Excellence have a reputation of strong financial institutions, despite all the objective difficulties of doing banking in the modern world. They provide first-class financial services and are trusted by clients. Last year we received almost 1,000 submissions from banks in our regional and country awards programme that covers more than 50 regional awards and best bank awards in close to 100 countries.”*

*ForteBank is one of the most stable, liquid and well-capitalized banks in the country. Over the past 12 months, ForteBank was recognized as the "Best Bank of Kazakhstan" for the second time according to Asiamoney, for the third time it was recognized as "Bank of the Year in Kazakhstan" according to The Banker magazine, and for the fourth year in a row, "The Best Bank of Kazakhstan" according to the magazine Global Finance.*


Euromoney recognizes ForteBank as the Best Bank  in Kazakhstan 

PRESS RELEASE

CHANGE IN THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF FORTEBANK JSC

ForteBank JSC (location of the Management Board: 8/1, Dostyk str., Esil District, Nur-Sultan city, Z05P1P0/010017, Republic of Kazakhstan) (hereinafter referred to as “the Bank”) informs on changes in the composition of the Board of Directors of the Bank.

In accordance with the resolution of the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders of the Bank as of July 12, 2021 (minutes of the meeting no. 02/21), Guram Andronikashvili was elected a member of the Board of Directors of the Bank in the capacity of representative of the interests of Bulat Utemuratov, a shareholder of the Bank, as from August 2, 2021.

Thus, starting with August 2, 2021, the composition of the Bank's Board of Directors will be as follows: 

- four representatives of the shareholder's interests: Marlen Mirzabekov, Anuar Utemuratov, Timur Issatayev, Guram Andronikashvili; 
- two independent directors: Hubert Pandza and Eldar Abdrazakov.

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