Monday, March 5 2012 18:06
HSBC Bank Armenia has problems with demand for banking products, not with liquidity
ArmInfo. At the moment HSBC Bank Armenia has no problems with liquidity, Chief Financial Officer of HSBC Bank Armenia Gevorg Tarumyan said at today's press conference when commenting on ArmInfo's question about the reduction of the Bank's overall liquidity over the period from the crisis till late 2011. "In 2011 lending to economy slightly declined, and at present the Bank has problems with the demand for banking products rather than with liquidity", he said. He added that the liquidity of the Bank considerably exceeds the minimum level fixed by the Central Bank of Armenia. He pointed out that HSBC Bank Armenia is one of the few Armenian banks with high AMD liquidity.
According to the Ranking (Analysis) of Armenian Banks by the Agency of Rating Marketing Information, in 2009-2011 the overall liquidity of HSBC Bank Armenia dropped from 35.24% to 33,93%, while the current liquidity rose from 67.98% to 81.58%. Over the period under review, the total assets of the Bank were up 2%, provision of crediting was up 43%, investments in government bonds tripled, while the cash funds declined by 18% and the funds on nostro-accounts were down 78%. In the meantime, the call liabilities were up almost 7%.
To note, the Central Bank of Armenia fixed the overall liquidity ratio at min 15%, and the current liquidity ratio at min 60%. In 2009-2011 overall liquidity of the Armenian banking system was down from 35.49% to 29.14%, and current liquidity - from 220.02% to 181.50%. Over that period the aggregate assets of the Armenian banks were up 55%, provision of crediting was up 72%, investments in government bonds were up 62%, cash funds were up 33%, while the funds on nostro accounts were down 24%. In the meantime, the call liabilities grew by 47%.
To note, the stockholders of HSBC Bank Armenia CJSC are HSBC Europe B.V. (70%) and Wings Establishment (30%). The Bank serves more than 35 thsd individuals and nearly 5 thsd legal entities. The Bank has 9 branches in Yerevan and 50 ATMs. In 2011 the Bank demonstrated the highest pretax profit in the banking system (8.3 bln AMD).
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