Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") upgraded Ameriabank’s Baseline Credit Assessment (BCA) to ba3 from b1 and affirmed the bank’s long-term deposit ratings at Ba3. The rating agency also changed the outlook on the Ba3 long-term deposit ratings to stable from negative.

The upgrade of Ameriabank's BCA and Adjusted BCA to ba3 from b1 is driven by the bank's asset quality resilience through pandemic combined with dramatically improved capital adequacy and profitability over the last two years. The upgrade of the bank's long-term Counterparty Risk Ratings (CRRs) to Ba2 from Ba3, and the upgrade of the long-term Counterparty Risk Assessment (CR Assessment) to Ba2(cr) from Ba3(cr) follows the BCA upgrade.

Moody’s cited robust performance – very high return on assets, strong income, lower credit costs and robust cost efficiency, in Q1 2023 among factors contributing to BCA upgrade. Ameriabank also materially improved its asset quality in 2021-2022 following the pandemic, and Moody's expects that the bank will maintain strong control over its asset quality amid ongoing economic growth in Armenia. 

The outlook on Ameriabank's long-term deposit ratings is stable, reflecting Moody’s view that the bank will maintain its sound fundamentals over the next 12-18 months. 
Ameriabank rating outlook update follows Armenia’s sovereign rating outlook change from negative to stable.