Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 31
By Anvar Mammadov – Trend:
The shareholders and lenders of Azerbaijan’s AccessBank have provisionally agreed a recapitalisation plan that would result in a 140 million manats equity increase, Fitch Ratings, an international rating agency, said in a report Aug. 31.
Fitch analysts note that the bank has entered into a standstill arrangement with its foreign creditors, whereby it has ceased paying principal amounts on its foreign debt, including to senior creditors, until the bank's recapitalisation is complete.
“According to management, the cessation of payments was agreed in advance with creditors. AccessBank remains current on its other liabilities, including customer deposits,” the report said. “The standstill arrangement was entered into in connection with AccessBank’s required recapitalisation and not because of any liquidity squeeze, as the bank has sufficient funds to make senior debt repayments.”
The bank’s shareholders and lenders have provisionally agreed a recapitalisation plan that would result in a 140 million manats equity increase, according to the report.
Management expects the recapitalisation to be completed by end-2018 or in 1Q19, and the bank is currently engaged in negotiations with its lenders, shareholders and Azerbaijan’s Financial Market Supervisory Authority on the parameters of the capital injection, Fitch said.
Presently, the bank’s authorized capital is 140.25 million manats.
AccessBank was founded in 2002 by the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, International Finance Corporation, KfW, LFS Financial Systems and AccessHolding.
AccessBank is one of the leading banks in Azerbaijan. It provides a full range of banking services and has a wide branch network represented by 16 branches in Baku and Absheron Peninsula and branches in the regions of the country.
The bank's assets amounted to 827.873 million manats in 1H2018, which is 2.894 million manats more than in 1Q2018. The increase in the bank's assets was achieved due to the growth of the loan portfolio. Thus, the credit portfolio of AccessBank increased by 12.58 million manats compared to the first quarter and amounted to 503.743 million manats.
The bank's deposit portfolio has also shown growth. The amount of deposits placed in the bank increased by 21.959 million manats for the quarter and amounted to 450.155 million manats, which indicates the high trust of customers in the bank.
(1.7 manats = 1 USD on Aug. 31)
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