ForteBank says Standard & Poor's upgraded bank ratings; outlook changed from "Stable" to "Positive"

/KASE, November 8, 2017/ – ForteBank (Astana), whose securities are officially listed on Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE), has provided KASE with the following press release: quote On November 07, 2017, S&P Global Ratings announced its decision to upgrade Kazakhstan national scale rating of ForteBank JSC to 'kzBB+' from 'kzBB'. Furthermore, S&P Global Ratings revised outlook on ForteBank JSC to positive from stable and affirmed its 'B/B' long- and short-term issuer credit ratings. In its press release the rating agency highlighted that these actions are results of progress achieved by ForteBank JSC in strengthening its market position and decreasing problem indebtedness in loan portfolio. As stated by the analysts of S&P: "The rating actions reflect our view that ForteBank has made progress in strengthening its market share, generating new good-quality business, and recovering legacy problem loans. The bank's position in the Kazakh banking system has strengthened; it is now the fifth-largest bank in terms of total assets.". The news has been commented by Mr. Magzhan Auezov, Chairman of ForteBank JSC Management Board: "Upgrading the rating and revising outlook of ForteBank JSC to Positive by S&P Global Ratings is an important event for us and our clients and high appraisal of work done by Forte team. Having successfully completed the most complicated process of merging three banks in previous years, in 2017 we managed to significantly expand the client base, the range and quality of products, while maintaining the leading positions on capital adequacy and liquidity, or in other words, the bank's reliability.". Over the past month, this is the second upgrade in the outlook of ForteBank. On October 16, 2017, Moody's Investors Service also announced its decision to change the outlook on ForteBank's ratings to positive from stable, reasoning by corporate governance improvement, sustainable level of profitability, maintenance of a solid buffer capital and strengthening of the deposit base, as well as progress in the recovery of non-performing loans. Background Information ForteBank JSC is one of the largest banks in Kazakhstan, formed in 2015 by the way of merger of Alliance Bank JSC, Temirbank JSC and ForteBank JSC. The bank is present in all regions and cities of the country with 19 branches and 102 outlets, as well as an extensive terminal and acquiring network with more than 850 ATMs and about 9,000 POS terminals in trade and service entities. The bank staff numbers over 3,500 employees. Contact details: Investor Relations Phone: +7 (7172) 58 75 75 (ext. 10249) E-mail: IR@fortebank.com ForteBank Press Office Phone: +7 (7172) 59 99 99 (ext. 10868, 10975) E-mail: epeltola@fortebank.com unquote [2017-11-08]