Ratings agency downgrades Ukio Bankas

Published on Wednesday 24 September 2008 21:22

VLADIMIR Romanov's Ukio Bankas has been downgraded by an international ratings agency, which warned that the Lithuanian financial institution had been exposed to lending in high- risk markets.

Standard and Poor's revised its outlook on the Hearts owner's Ukio Bankas from "stable" to "negative", saying the bank was exposed to high credit risk after doubling the value of its loans in the past 18 months.

The news came as the football club claimed staff would receive their unpaid wages by tomorrow – a week after they were due.

Accounts for Ukio Banko Investicine Grupe (UBIG) – the investment vehicle behind Hearts – reveal that the firm, which was spun out of the main banking group about six years ago, reported a gross loss of LTL8.4 million (1.9m) for the six months to the end of June.

The two companies now operate as entirely separate entities, although Mr Romanov has a substantial stake in each.

Ukio Bankas, which has previously spoken of plans to open a branch in Edinburgh, recently revealed that its profit over the eight months to the end of August was LTL85.8m – a 39.9 per cent rise on the same period of last year.

Standard & Poor's credit analyst, Miguel Pintado, said: "Standard & Poor considers that Ukio is exposed to high credit risk through its loan portfolio growth of over 100 per cent in the last 18 months."

He added that most of the loans are to "riskier" small and midsize companies and retail-leasing sectors.

A UBIG spokeswoman, Jurga Chomskyte McGeever, would not comment on whether UBIG has a bank account or loans with Ukio Bankas, saying only that Hearts players' wages are paid through Bank of Scotland.