Tuesday, November 22 2011 16:19
HSBC Bank Armenia reopens Komitas 1 branch at Renault-Nissan showroom
ArmInfo. Today HSBC Bank Armenia reopens its "Komitas 1" branch at "Renault-Nissnan" showroom on 47 Komitas Street, closed in June 2009 due to the bank's decision to temporarily suspend its consumer lending.
While previously "Komitas 1" was a limited operation branch where customers could apply only for car loans, it will now operate as a full service branch. Car loans issued for purchase of cars from Renault-Nissan (47 Komitas), Ford-Volvo-Land Rover (42 Acharyan), Peugeot (33/1 Rubinyants), Chevrolet (18 Halabyan) showrooms will be provided to customers at a discounted, preferential rate - starting from13% per annum. "During one year HSBC Armenia has significantly increased volume of its personal loans and by the end of 2011 the total personal loan portfolio will reach around US$ 55 million. We expect the reopening of "Komitas 1" branch to play an important role in increasing of overall personal loans portfolio", - said HSBC Bank Armenia Head of Retail Banking and Wealth Management Arman Barseghyan, the Bank's press-service reported.
For her part, HSBC Bank Armenia CEO Astrid Clifford said that reopening of Komitas 1 branch is another step towards extension of the bank's presence in the country. Another two branches will be opened in early 2012 and the total number of the branches will reach 8, she said.
HSBC Bank Armenia has provided banking services such as lending, letters of credit, guarantees and foreign trade finance solutions to "Karcomauto" LLC for the past 10 years. Recently, at a Trade Award ceremony HSBC Armenia announced its Best Trade Customers of 2010 and "Karcomauto" LLC received the "Best Trade Customer - CEO's Special Award", and in 2010 "Karcomauto" LLC was recognized as the bank's Best Trade Customer in the category "Bank Guarantees".
According to the Ranking of Armenian Commercial Banks as of Sept 30 2011 prepared by ArmInfo Agency, HSBC Bank Armenia was among Top Five Banks by the loan book with 27.4% growth of the given index versus Sept 2010 and 6.7% growth for Q3 2011. The bank's loan portfolio grew due to significant investments in the sectors of agriculture, transport and communication, and trade and industry. Nearly 75% of the Bank's loan portfolio is economy financing (2nd position), with the share of personal loans totaling some 18% (7th position). The share of the loan portfolio in the asset structure of HSBC Bank Armenia exceeds 64%. The bank's net profit for 9 months of 20111 totaled 4.6bln drams with 53.3% growth versus the same period of 2010. The bank is among Top Three banks by the efficiency ratios: ROA - 2.94% (3rd position) and ROE - 16.96% (2ns position).