Monday, October 29 2012 18:34

ARARATBANK attracts a new shareholder - Incofin Investment Management (Belgium)


ArmInfo. ARARATBANK and Incofin Investment Management (Incofin IM, Belgium) signed an agreement on Incofin Investment Management's joining ARARATBANK's capital with a 10% stake. The document was signed by Chairman of ARARATBANK's Council Barsegh Beglaryan, Chairman of Board of ARARATBANK Ashot Osipyan and Geert Peetermans, Chief Investment Officer of Incofin Investment Management.

"The appearance of the new stakeholder will enable ARARATBANK to strengthen its positions in the banking market of Armenia and will open new opportunities in the sphere of lending, especially SME crediting, as 1/3 of the Bank's loan portfolio falls on this segment", said Artur Javadyan, President of the Central Bank of Armenia. He pointed out that over the past few years the Bank ensured 99% of loan repayment; as of 30 Sept 2012 the share of non-performing loans in the total loan portfolio of the Bank was 1.3%. "This demonstrates the effective mechanisms of risk management, which is a pledge of stable and long-term development", Javadyan stressed. Among other achievements of the ARARATBANK, Javadyan pointed out the Bank's active participation in Armenia's capital market and recalled that ARARATBANK was the first to issue foreign currency bonds.

For his part, Armenian Economy Minister Tigran Davtyan said that the foreign capital in ARARATBANK will contribute to development of not only the Bank and the financial sector, but also the economy of the country in general. Barsegh Beglaryan added that the participation of the new stakeholder is one more step for the Bank towards development of corporate management principles. "ARARATBANK was the first to reorganize its status from a CJSC into an OJSC and to attract the EBRD as a new institutional stakeholder", Beglaryan stressed.

Peetermans said that the company's goal is to fund socially oriented agricultural loans in remote areas and for SMEs. He said that Armenia's financial system is stable and his company is ready to provide ARARATBANK with both financial and technical support in agricultural lending.

In Jan-Sept 2012 ARARATBANK's assets grew by 13% to 98.9bln AMD, loans by 10.3% to 48.7bln AMD, time deposits by 25.4% to 17.3bln AMD. The authorized capital totaled 9.148bln AMD, total capital 14.811bln AMD.

Incofin Investment Management (Incofin IM) manages funds that invest in microfinance institutions (MFIs) in developing countries. MFIs provide financial services, such as credits, savings and insurances, to people who cannot have recourse to regular banks. As a specialist in rural microfinancing, Incofin IM's main goal is to reach out to people who live in more secluded rural areas and/or who are active in the agricultural sector. From its offices in Belgium, Colombia, India and Kenya the company finances and supports organizations in over 40 countries. Incofin IM has portfolio investments in Central Asia and Azerbaijan. The company had a $3mln share in the $12mln syndicated loan ARARATBANK received from EBRD, Promsvyazbank and Byblos Bank S.A.L. in 2011.

In Armenia Incofin IM has lent money to ACRA-Credit Argicole Bank, Inecobank, ProCreditBank Armenia through ProCredit Holding, FINCA Armenia, Kamurj and SEF International - with the country having almost 10% of the company's total lending.
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