London, 10 December 2012 -- Moody's Investors Service has today assigned the following first-time
ratings to "Autotorgbank" Limited Company: E+ standalone
bank financial strength rating (BFSR), equivalent to a standalone
credit assessment of b3; B3 long-term local and foreign currency
deposit ratings; and Not Prime short-term local and foreign
currency deposit ratings. All the bank's long-term
deposit ratings carry a stable outlook.
The rating action is based on Autotorgbank's audited IFRS accounts
for 2011, 2010 and 2009, statutory accounts as at end-October
2012, and information provided by the bank's management.
RATINGS RATIONALE
According to Moody's, Autotorgbank's ratings are constrained
by the following: (1) high concentrations in the loan book and deposit
base (with the bulk of deposits received from its main owner, Major
Group); (2) potential corporate governance risks reflected in the
bank's captive nature; and (3) limited track record of operations
under the current ownership and strategy. At the same time,
Autotorgbank's ratings are supported by its solid reported capitalisation,
good asset quality indicators, and reasonable liquidity reflected
in a high share of liquid assets.
Moody's notes Autotorgbank's significant dependence on funding
from the parent group (Major). Autotorgbank is the main settlement
bank for its majority owner -- Major Group -- one of the largest
car traders in Russia. As a result of its captive nature,
the bank benefits from cheap funding from its parent group which accounted
for over 60% of deposit funding at end-Q3 2012. In
addition, over 10% of deposit funding is related to business
partners of the parent. This cheap funding and a large capital
base confer a competitive advantage to Autotorgbank in terms of pricing
of corporate loans which grew rapidly over the past three years.
However, the bank's loan book remains concentrated,
with the top 20 borrowers accounting for over 95% of corporate
lending.
Autotorgbank's related-party lending has been low to date
(at less than 20% of Tier 1 capital); however, Moody's
notes there are risks associated with the bank's captive nature
which raise concerns regarding the possibility of servicing any urgent
needs of the group if other options are unavailable.
Moody's also notes the limited track record of operations under
the current ownership and strategy: Autotorgbank's franchise
started to grow rapidly after the acquisition of the bank by the current
owners in 2007.
Autotorgbank's profitability has been modest to date, due
to strong and rapid loan growth leading to high provision charges:
significant loan loss reserves resulted in return on assets (ROA) below
1%. At the same time, if reserves are excluded,
the healthy net interest margin of over 6% would have resulted
in ROA of over 3%.
Moody's notes the commitment of Autotorgbank's owners to capitalising
the bank -- which provided $30 million of Tier 2 capital during
2009-11 and RUB500 million of Tier 1 in 2011. These capital
injections resulted in a strong capital adequacy ratio of over 35%.
According to Autotorgbank's owners, the new capital support
is likely to support growth, especially given the bank's size
compared with the group's financial flexibility.
In Moody's opinion, cheap parental funding and a high capital
base enables Autotorgbank to operate in a lower-risk segment compared
to peers (mainly lending for operational purposes). As a result,
historic losses during the last several years did not exceed 1%
of the loan book. In addition, Autotorgbank's liquidity
is reasonable because the bank has an ample liquidity cushion (over 90%
of demand deposits) given its role as one of the main settlement banks
for its parent.
WHAT COULD MOVE THE RATINGS UP / DOWN
Moody's says an upgrade Autotorgbank's ratings is unlikely
in the near term. However, upward pressure could be exerted
on the ratings as a result of successful growth and diversification of
business, especially by growing business unrelated to its majority
owner, accompanied by improvement in profitability and maintenance
of financial indicators at adequate levels. A downgrade is not
expected in the near term; however, downward pressure could
be exerted on the ratings (1) as a result of loss of franchise,
including evidence of diminished competitive advantage, caused,
in turn, by lower levels of funding and capital support from the
parent group; and (2) as a result of deterioration of financial fundamentals.
Any liquidity problems could also have negative rating implications.
PRINCIPAL METHODOLOGIES
The principal methodology used in this rating was Moody's Consolidated
Global Bank Rating Methodology published in June 2012. Please see
the Credit Policy page on www.moodys.com for a copy of this
methodology.
Headquartered in, Moscow, Russia, "Autotorgbank"
Limited Company reported (audited IFRS) total assets of RUB6.2
billion ($194 million) and shareholder's equity of RUB1.4
billion ($44 million) as at end-December 2011. The
bank's net income totalled RUB36 million ($1.1 million)
in 2011.
REGULATORY DISCLOSURES
For ratings issued on a program, series or category/class of debt,
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this announcement provides relevant regulatory disclosures in relation
to the rating action on the support provider and in relation to each particular
rating action for securities that derive their credit ratings from the
support provider's credit rating. For provisional ratings,
this announcement provides relevant regulatory disclosures in relation
to the provisional rating assigned, and in relation to a definitive
rating that may be assigned subsequent to the final issuance of the debt,
in each case where the transaction structure and terms have not changed
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Vladlen Kuznetsov
Asst Vice President - Analyst
Financial Institutions Group
Moody's Investors Service Limited, Russian Branch
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Russia
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Yves J Lemay
MD - Banking
Financial Institutions Group
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Moody's assigns B3/NP/E+ ratings to Autotorgbank; stable outlook