The credit rating of Joint-Stock Commercial Bank “NOVIKOMBANK” (hereinafter, the Bank) has been upgraded to reflect the improvement of the risk profile assessment, which includes a higher score for risk management quality due to, among other reasons, the declining, for over the several years in a row, volume of related-party loans and the sustainably high quality of the loan portfolio and other assets of the Bank. The credit rating is also based on the stable business profile, strong capital position, and the adequate position in funding and liquidity. The likelihood is high that the Bank will be supported, if necessary, by its parent entity with a very high creditworthiness.
The Bank is a key link in the financial center of the parent entity, providing comprehensive servicing and lending to companies of the parent entity, as well as providing banking products to their employees.
KEY ASSESSMENT FACTORS
The stable business profile assessment (bbb+) reflects the Bank’s fairly strong positions in the Russian banking system and the role in the development of the parent company. The Bank has a high-quality brand and satisfactorily assessed corporate governance and strategic planning system. The Bank’s regional presence is determined by the need to service companies of the parent entity.
The business profile assessment is constrained by the low diversification of the operational income mainly generated by interest incomes from corporate and interbank loans. The Bank’s long-term development strategy assumes further strengthening its positions as a universal credit institution deeply integrated into the financial system of the parent entity. This should help the volume of the Bank’s assets to continue growing, increase their diversification, and promote sustained growth of operating income.
The Bank’s strong capital position stems from it adhering to regulatory capital adequacy ratios with a margin (N1.2 was 13.01% as of March 1, 2026) and its strong capability to generate capital thanks to stable profits since 2017. The Bank has been paying dividends since 2020, however, the size of dividend payments does not threaten its capital position. ACRA’s stress test indicates that the Bank is able to withstand a rise in the cost of credit risk by more than 500 bps without violating the minimum prudential standards.
The Bank’s net interest margin (NIM) exceeds that of peers. In addition, the average ratio of operating costs to income (CTI) remains at low, which indicates the efficiency of the Bank’s core operating activities.
The risk profile assessment has improved to ‘weak’. The Bank maintains a moderately high concentration of its loan portfolio, which is partly determined by its business focus. At the same time, the actual and planned growth in the scale of business implies a progressive decrease in the concentration on the horizon of the current strategy. The share of non-performing loans in the portfolio was low over the past four years, which, in ACRA’s opinion, reflects the adequate quality of the Bank’s risk procedures. The Agency notes an increase in the share of unsecured loans in the portfolio, which is largely due to the specifics of the market-based corporate loans granted by the Bank to the largest Russian companies.
The loan portfolio is also characterized by the high concentration on the companies within the parent group, which is due to the Bank’s function in the group’s financial system. According to the IFRS financial statements, the volume of loans provided to the parties fully controlled by the Bank’s shareholder, although high and rating-sensitive, has been tending to decline over several past years, which also supports ACRA’s opinion on the improvement of the risk management quality. Interbank loans are mostly held with counterparty banks with high credit quality and the Bank of Russia. The share of the portfolio of securities is low and mainly consists of bonds of issuers with high credit quality.
Adequate funding and liquidity assessment. The short-term liquidity shortage indicator and the long-term liquidity shortage indicator were assessed as strong as of December 31, 2025. The Bank complies with the regulatory liquidity standards: as of March 1, 2026, the N2 ratio was 85.4%, the N3 ratio was 91.4%, and the N4 ratio was 35.3%.
Pressure on the funding assessment is exerted by the high concentration of liabilities on the funds of the largest group of creditors and the 10 largest groups of creditors, which include funds of corporate clients and government funds. ACRA does not expect any significant changes in the funding structure within the 12 to 18-month horizon. The Agency notes that the concentration of funding sources on funds of large companies, state funds, and regional budgets is elevated. Despite the high concentration on the funds of corporations as the primary source of funding, the assessment of the funding factor has not been lowered because these risks have already been taken into account in the assessment of the level of concentration on the funds of the largest creditors. At the same time, ACRA takes into account the stability of funds remaining in the accounts of companies of the parent entity, which make up the dominant part of attracted corporate funding.
The rating takes into account the high degree of support from the parent entity. The Bank’s strategy involves deepening integration into the financial system of the parent entity in order to optimize financing and provide banking services to the companies of the parent entity. The Bank’s importance to the parent entity is evidenced by: (1) previous capital injections performed by the parent entity, as well as its plans to use a substantial share of the Bank’s future profits to perform capital injections; (2) current support provided to the Bank (placement of funds held by companies of the parent entity and acquisition of problem debt from the Bank’s balance sheet in the past, the existence of guarantees and sureties from the parent entity provided to a number of the Bank’s borrowers); (3) complete strategic and operational control exercised by the parent entity; (3) the significant degree of operational control exercised by the Supporting Entity; and (4) possible risks for the parent entity’s operations taking into account the high degree of involvement of the Bank in the financial operations of the parent entity’s member companies. In view of the above, ACRA believes that the parent entity is willing and able to support the Bank if necessary, and therefore has added four notches to the Bank’s standalone creditworthiness assessment (SCA).
KEY ASSUMPTIONS
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N1.2 capital adequacy ratio no lower than 9% within the 12 to 18-month horizon;
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Maintained shareholder control on the part of the parent entity.
POTENTIAL OUTLOOK OR RATING CHANGE FACTORS
The Stable outlook assumes that the rating will highly likely stay unchanged within the 12 to 18-month horizon.
A positive rating action may be prompted by:
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Sharp decrease in the concentration on the largest clients and no deterioration in asset quality;
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Sustainably low concentration on related parties.
A negative rating action may be prompted by:
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Lower assessment of the positive impact of the potential extraordinary support from the parent entity on the credit rating due to a rapid growth in the scale of the Bank’s business;
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Declining importance and shrinking functionality of the Bank within the parent entity;
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Deteriorating capital adequacy caused by higher cost of risk amid aggressive growth of assets;
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Much lower quality of the loan portfolio and other assets;
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Deterioration of the Bank’s liquidity position.
RATING COMPONENTS
SCA: a-.
Support: SCA plus four notches.
ISSUE RATINGS
No outstanding issues have been rated.
REGULATORY DISCLOSURE
The credit rating has been assigned to Joint-Stock Commercial Bank “NOVIKOMBANK” based on the following methodologies: the Methodology for Assigning Credit Ratings to Banks and Bank Groups under the National Scale for the Russian Federation to calculate the SCA and determine the credit rating and the credit rating outlook of Joint-Stock Commercial Bank “NOVIKOMBANK” under the national scale for the Russian Federation; the Methodology for Assigning Credit Ratings with External Support to determine factors of external influence; the Key Concepts Used by the Analytical Credit Rating Agency within the Scope of Its Rating Activities to ensure consistent and uniform application of ACRA’s methodologies, rating scales, models, and key rating assumptions.
The credit rating of Joint-Stock Commercial Bank “NOVIKOMBANK” assigned under the national scale for the Russian Federation was published by ACRA for the first time on October 19, 2018.
The most recent publication date of the credit rating is October 30, 2025.
The credit rating and its outlook are expected to be revised within one year.
The credit rating is assigned based on data provided by Joint-Stock Commercial Bank “NOVIKOMBANK”, information from publicly available sources, and ACRA’s own databases. The rating analysis was performed using the IFRS financial statements of Joint-Stock Commercial Bank “NOVIKOMBANK” as of December 31, 2025 and the financial statements of Joint-Stock Commercial Bank “NOVIKOMBANK” drawn up in compliance with the Bank of Russia’s requirements.
The credit rating is solicited and Joint-Stock Commercial Bank “NOVIKOMBANK” participated in its assignment.
In assigning the credit rating, ACRA used only information, the quality and reliability of which were, in ACRA’s opinion, appropriate and sufficient to apply the methodologies.
ACRA provided no additional services to Joint-Stock Commercial Bank “NOVIKOMBANK” during the year preceding the rating action.
No conflicts of interest were discovered in the course of credit rating assignment.