Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov. 29 / Trend I. Khalilova /
Accessbank plans to increase its authorized capital due to this year's profits, as the bank has no necessity for re-capitalization, General Manager Andrew Pospielovsky told Trend today.
Accessbank increased its authorized capital twice to reach 41.8 million manat in March.
"Today, the bank's capital adequacy ratio exceeds 25 percent given the Central Bank of Azerbaijan's standard of 12 percent," he said.
Accessbank earned a profit of 20.55 million manat in January-September, or 44.6 percent more than during the same period last year. The bank's profit is also expected to increase by 2-3 million manat by late 2010.
However, Accessbank predicts a slowdown in its business growth due to increasing risks in 2011, Pospielovsky said.
"Accessbank will continue to open new branches in the regions in 2011, but the intensity of this process will decrease, as we are already represented almost all over the country," he said.
Today, the bank has 28 branches. Five opened this year.
The bank's main activity is lending to micro-, small- and medium-sized businesses. However, Pospielovsky does not exclude the possibility of expanding retail lending - accounting for about seven percent of the bank's portfolio today - and increasing the deposit and card business.
The bank's assets increased by 22 percent over the nine months to more than 376 million manat. It aggregate capital during the reporting period increased by 14.87 million manat or 23.7 percent to 77.52 million manat. The bank's loan portfolio grew by 70.7 percent to 284.6 million manat.
AccessBank was created to provide financial services to families and entrepreneurs. The bank has been recognized as the most reliable bank among private banks in Azerbaijan by the Fitch international rating agency. Euromoney also named AccessBank the "Best Bank in Azerbaijan in 2010."
The bank is fully owned by six international organizations - the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Finance Corporation, the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank, and KfW Development Bank (20-percent stake each), as well as AccessHolding (16.5 percent) and LFS Financial Systems GmbH (3.5 percent).
The official exchange rate is 0.8001 manat to $1.