Fitch approved Ardshinbank rating at B+ and improved the forecast  from "Negative" to "Sustainable"

ArmInfo. The Fitch  International Rating Agency approved the Long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR), improving at that the forecast from Negative  to Positive. This was shared  to ArmInfo at the press office of the Bank. 

The Fitch  Rating Agency  justified its estimation by acceptable  financial indicators, supported by recovered economy and   comparatively sustainable currency, the availability of resource  capital and liquidity base,  as wel as the essential role of the bank  at the local market ( about 13% market share in assets). The forecast  improvement reflects the expectations of Fitch that  potential risks  related to assets quality,  coming particularly from restructured/  risk assets, could  be slightly accumulated by bank's revenues  without progradation  of  capital. 

According to the source, the recent transaction on Ardshinbank and  Areximbank  merge was also mentioned by Fitch. " This merge   (December 2016) has had a neutral impact on Ardshinbank rating,  because Ardshinbank input does not exceed 8% of the consolidated  balance of unified bank, while Areximbank balance before the merge  has been essentially cleared out by former owners", the Fitch rating  report states. 

Ardshinbank is granted a rating at the level of  the Republic of  Armenia rating, which is the best indicator of the rating for any  private company. The bank is the only private company in the   Republic , which is granted the rating of two international rating  agencies. 

To remind, Fitch Ratings works at Armenian market about 15 years. For  now, two Armenian banks are included in the rating-list of the  company - Ameriabank and Ardshinbank. 

Ardshinbank" CJSC was founded in 2003. At present,  Ardshinbank,   taking into account Areximbank- Gazprombank group,  combined with it,   has 72 branches (56 of its own and 16 Areximbank)  and a  representative office in Paris. In terms of coverage of the  branch   network, Ardshinbank has become the leader since 2017, not  only in   terms of the total number of units, but also in the number of    regional branches. The majority shareholder of Ardshinbank is LLC    "Center for Business Investments" with 70,11% equity interest in the    capital and "Region Industrial and Financial Corporation" - 28.10%.