Moody's Investors Service has upgraded the ratings and assessments of the largest Ukrainian bank, PrivatBank.
"The upgrade of PrivatBank's ratings and BCA [Baseline Credit Assessments] and change in the outlooks on the bank's deposit ratings to stable from positive follow the sovereign rating action on Ukraine," Moody's said in a press release on June 16, 2020.
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"The bank's BCA remains constrained by the sovereign rating and its upgrade to b3 from caa1 reflects the high inter-linkage between the bank's standalone credit fundamentals and sovereign creditworthiness, given the bank's high direct exposure to sovereign debt; strong profitability metrics, driven by recurring revenues which provide a good buffer to absorb higher credit costs; and the bank's low reliance on market funding and very high level of liquid assets," it said.
It is noted the bank's B3 local currency deposit rating does not incorporate any uplift based on sovereign support as its BCA is in line with the sovereign rating.
As UNIAN reported earlier, Moody's Investors Service on June 12 upgraded the Government of Ukraine's long-term issuer and senior unsecured ratings to B3 from Caa1, the outlook on the ratings is stable.
UNIAN memo. Dnipro-based PrivatBank has been operating in Ukraine since 1992. It is Ukraine's No. 1 bank in terms of assets. The bank has been owned by the state since December 2016. PrivatBank posted UAH 32.6 billion (US$1.2 billion) in net profit in 2019.