Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Kazakhstan – UniCredit’s ATFBank reports loss of 24.3 mln EUR for first nine months of 2012; Fitch upgrades Kazakhstan’s sovereign rating; Kazakhstan Stock Exchange to hold training sessions for investors


On 19 November the commercial bank ATFBank JSC (АТФБанк АҚ) published consolidated financial statements for the first nine months of 2012.  (The bank had published abbreviated statements three days earlier, on 16 November.)  The bank, which as of 1 February 2012 was owned 99.6721% by UniCredit Bank Austria A.G., registered a net loss of 4,679,910,000 tenge (24.3 mln EUR) for the period, an improvement from the loss of 6,337,076,000 tenge recorded in the year-earlier period.  Total assets on 1 Oct. 2012 were 1.003 trillion tenge (5.21 bln EUR), down 0.8% from 1.011 trillion tenge on 1 Jan. 2011.  (At time of writing 1 EUR = 192.4870 KZT.)

Ten days earlier, on 9 November, the bank paid USD 5,000,000 in interest on the 12th coupon of the international bonds numbered XS0274618247, and a total of USD 15,750,000 in interest on the 13th coupons of the international bonds numbered XS0253723281 and XS0253723950.

Sources:
Shareholder structure as of 2012-02-01: Акционерлердің тізімі


On 20 November the agency Fitch Ratings (London) updated the long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of the Republic of Kazakhstan in local currency (the Kazakh tenge) from “BBB+” to “A-“, and the IDR in foreign currency from “BBB” to “BBB+”, due in part to the strong foreign-asset position of the National Fund (Қазақстан Республикасы Ұлттық қоры).  The rating outlook is given as “Stable”.



In other news, on 20 November the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange announced that it will be holding two free informational sessions for investors.  On Friday, 23 November, the Exchange will be holding a free workshop for beginning investors, which will cover topics such as common mistakes that new investors make, and the workshop will include a demonstration of how to use the online “STrade” trading platform.  The workshop will begin at 09:00.  On the following Friday, 30 November, the Exchange will hold a free training seminar for retail investors on financial derivatives that are traded on the Exchange, including a demonstration of how to trade them on the “STrade” platform.  The seminar will begin in the afternoon, at 14:00.  Both informational sessions will be held at the Exchange’s conference hall in Almaty, on the 8th floor.  Because seating is limited, advance registration is required for both sessions.  (See notices below for registration information.)

Sources: 


Mark Pleas
Eastern Europe Banking & Deposits Consultant