S&P Rates Alfa Bank $200 Mil Commercial Paper Program ‘C’
17 Dec 2003
At the same time, Standard & Poor's also assigned its 'ruA+' Russian national scale rating to Alfa Bank and to the bank's Russian ruble (RUR) 1 billion five-year senior unsecured bond issue due June 2007, issued by OOO ALFAFINANCE, a subsidiary company of Alfa Bank. The bond is fully guaranteed by Alfa Bank.
"The ratings on Alfa Bank reflect the bank's good business franchise and the improved diversity of its business lines, offset by its large single-party concentrations, including to other Alfa Group members, and the still high level of operating risk for all banks operating in the Russian Federation," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Ekaterina Trofimova.
During the past three years, Alfa Bank has expanded its commercial network, widened its financial services offerings, and hired new staff in key areas such as retail and investment banking, information technology, and risk management. These changes have positioned the bank well to develop its banking business across the expanding Russian economy.
"Alfa Bank is one of the five largest Russian banks in terms of breadth of operations and reported assets ($5 billion at June 30, 2003): The degree of concentration in Alfa Bank's assets and deposits is high, both within and without the bank's parent, the financial-industrial group Alfa Group Consortium", added Ms. Trofimova.
The release is available on www.standardandpoors.com and www.standardandpoors.ru.
Analist e-mail address:
ekaterina_trofimova@standardandpoors.com.
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