S&P Global Ratings assigned “BB-” long-term credit rating to RCB Bank Ltd with stable outlook

On March 15, 2017, S&P Global Ratings assigned its “BB-/B” long- and short-term counterparty credit ratings to RCB Bank Ltd. The outlook is stable.

S&P Global Ratings underlines that “RCB Bank's creditworthiness reflects the bank's position as the third-largest bank in Cyprus and its much better credit and earnings performance through the last credit cycle than its domestic peers”. The rating agency expects “the bank's loss absorption capacity to remain at its current strong levels and its nonperforming loans to be significantly lower than domestic peers”.

Dr. Kirill Zimarin, CEO of RCB Bank Ltd has welcomed the development noting that “the high rating assigned by the agency confirms the Bank’s position as the most stable in Cyprus, one of the most dynamic economies of the Eurozone”.

According to the agency RCB Bank Ltd has exhibited consistent profitability over the past 10 years, including during the 2008-2009 global banking crisis and the 2013 crisis in Cyprus.

The rating agency assigned a stable outlook on RCB Bank’s credit rating, reflecting their expectation that the bank’s business and financial profiles will remain stable over the next 12 months, supported by improved economic prospects in Cyprus and Russia.

Finally, S&Ps points out the experience of the bank’s management team and considers “RCB Bank’s corporate governance to be adequate and its internal anti-money laundering control system to be sound, with some areas that appear to be stricter than the regulatory framework”.