"Fitch Ratings" agentliyi Azərbaycanın PAŞA Bank ASC-nin  Emitent Defoltu Reytinqini "B+" səviyyəsində  təsdiqləyib. Proqnoz "Sabit"dir.  

"Marja" xəbər verir ki,  Agentlik reytinqin təsdiq edilməsini son icmaldan sonra bankın göstəricilərində önəmli dəyişiklik olmaması ilə izah edib. Bankın kredit reytinqinin "B+" səviyyəsinin onun daxili gücü və dayanıqlılıq reyinqinin "b+" səviyyəsi ilə izah edib. 

Bununla yanaşı, "PAŞA Bank"ın reytinqi onun sistem əhəmiyyətli bank olmasını göstərir.

Bankın möhkəm kapitallaşma səviyyəsi, aktivlərin keyfiyyətli idarəetmə sistemi və kifayət qədər likvidliyə sahib olduğu bildirilir. 

"Fitch" qeyd edib ki, bir sıra mənfi proseslər Bankın möhkəm kapital buferi tərəfindən yüngülləşdirilir.

Fitch Affirms Azerbaijan's Pasha Bank at 'B+'; Outlook Stable

Fitch Ratings-Moscow/London-31 August 2017: Fitch Ratings has affirmed Azerbaijan-based Pasha Bank's (PB) Long-Term Issuer-Default Rating (IDR) at 'B+'. The Outlook is Stable. A full list of rating actions is at the end of this rating action commentary. 

KEY RATING DRIVERS 

The affirmation reflects limited changes since our last review. PB's 'B+' Long-Term IDR is based on the bank's intrinsic strength, as expressed by its Viability Rating (VR) of 'b+'. The latter remains primarily constrained by the weak operating environment (as evidenced by numerous recent failures in the banking sector); dependence of the bank's business model and performance on the stability of cheap related party funding; and the limited track record of its sizable foreign operations. 

At the same time, the rating positively considers PB's systemic importance; solid consolidated capitalisation, although this is somewhat weaker on a standalone basis due to the sizeable deduction of investments into foreign subsidiaries; manageable asset quality and ample liquidity. The Stable Outlook reflects Fitch's expectation that despite the potential for some further asset quality deterioration, this should be covered by pre-impairment profits and additionally mitigated by the bank's solid capital buffer.

Fitch stopped factoring in support from the Azerbaijan authorities into PB's ratings after the default of International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA; 'Restricted Default') on its foreign currency non-deposit obligations (see 'Fitch Downgrades International Bank of Azerbaijan to 'RD'' dated 24 May 2017 on www.fitchratings.com). In Fitch's view, the default of IBA, which is the largest bank in the country and government-owned, means that state support for less systemically-important, privately-owned banks cannot be relied upon. At the same time, Fitch views PB's systemic importance as significant, as the bank is a part of the largest privately-owned banking group in the country, and together with its sister bank Kapital Bank holds around 27% of sector deposits. Fitch also acknowledges the benefits of PB being ultimately owned by a structure closely connected to the Azerbaijani authorities. 

PB's Fitch Core Capital (FCC) ratio increased to around 38% at end-2016 from 31% at end-2015 due to solid 2016 earnings (ROE of 15%) and slight 5% deleveraging. In Fitch's view, PB is unlikely to consume this large capital buffer in the near term given moderate growth plans (and limited actual growth in 1H17) and reasonable earnings. At the same time, the bank's regulatory (standalone) capitalization is notably weaker (Tier 1 and total capital ratios of 25.5% and 15.2%, respectively, at end-1H17 versus minimum levels of 5% and 10%), mainly because PB's investments in two fully-owned foreign subsidiaries are deducted from its total regulatory capital. Regulatory capital is additionally pressured by the gradual phasing-in (by mid-2018) of the regulatory deduction of related-party credit exposures (including to subsidiary banks) from capital for capital adequacy calculation purposes. 

According to PB's unconsolidated disclosures, NPLs (loans 90+ days overdue) slightly increased to around 13% of gross loans at end-1Q17 from around 11% at end-2016 while restructured loans slightly contracted to 7% from 8%. The share of PB's foreign currency loans remained significant at around 45% of total loans, posing a downside risk to asset quality. However, some of PB's largest borrowers may benefit from access to foreign currency revenue or state support. Loan book concentration is high, with the 25 largest exposures amounting to around 69% of gross loans or 1.8x FCC at end-1Q17. Of these, Fitch considers higher risk loans (which are not NPLs, but may require additional provisioning in the future) to be at least 21% of gross loans or 55% of FCC at end-1Q17. 

At the same time, PB's loan book is rather small - only around 28% of assets at end-1Q17 (standalone) - and assets outside of the loan book are of decent quality: most interbank placements (49% of assets) and investments (4%) were either sovereign or investment grade risk, while cash and cash equivalents accounted for a sizeable 16%, approximately. 

PB's performance is supported by a low funding cost of 2.5%, which is below the market average of around 4%, reflecting a high share of related party funding. This allows the bank to preserve a good net interest margin of 5.6%, while issuing loans at relatively low rates. PB's 2016 profitability was also supported by sizeable volatile gains, including AZN57.8 million dealing income, AZN8.7 million translation gain and AZN2.3 million gain on FX derivatives. Net of these gains and uncollected accrued interest, core earnings are moderate, with adjusted 2016 cash-based pre-impairment profit equalling around 0.5% of average assets. PB's unconsolidated regulatory accounts indicate that profitability may have moderately declined in 1H17.

PB's total available liquidity, net of potential wholesale debt repayments, comfortably covered around half of the bank's end-1Q17 customer accounts or all of the third-party unrestricted accounts (excluding related parties and deposits pledged as collateral against loans). However, this should be viewed against high single name concentration of liabilities (at end-1Q17 the three largest customers contributed 32% of total liabilities).

RATING SENSITIVITIES

Downside pressure on PB's ratings could result from a marked weakening of its asset quality and capitalisation. Upside would probably require an improvement of the operating environment, stronger asset quality and preservation of high capital ratios. Further development of PB's franchise resulting in a marked increase in the bank's systemic importance or improvements in the track record of sovereign support for the banking sector as a whole could also be credit-positive.

The rating actions are as follows: 

Long-Term IDR: affirmed at 'B+'; Outlook Stable
Short-Term IDR: affirmed at 'B'
Viability Rating: affirmed at 'b+'
Support Rating: affirmed at '5'
Support Rating Floor: affirmed at 'No Floor'