ArmInfo. In the banking system of Armenia, the concentration of assets among the top five increased over 2013-2018 from 47.7% to 55.3%, although it decreased compared to 2017 by 0.1%. Among the main assets are Ameriabank, Ardshinbank, Armbusinessbank, ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank and INECOBANK.
According to the Financial Ratings of Banks of Armenia, as of January 1, 2019 prepared by the ArmInfo Information Company, among the listed banks, the first four are leading in terms of credit investments, and the top five are closed by VTB Bank (Armenia), whose total share in the total market value is 57, 5% of the total loan portfolio.
In 2013, the share of the top five in terms of loan investments was 49.7% - this is VTB Bank (Armenia), ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank, Ardshinbank, Ameriabank and HSBC Bank Armenia. From 2014, the first two positions on loan investments have been held by Ameriabank and Ardshinbank, since 2016, the 3rd position has been established for Armbiznesbank, and since 2017, ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank has held the 4th position.
In terms of loans to the economy, the top five are Ameriabank, Armbusinessbank, Ardshinbank, INECOBANK and Converse Bank, with a total market share of 64.6% against 52.6% of the top five in 2013. For retail loans, TOP-5 includes ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank, Ardshinbank, VTB Bank (Armenia), Ameriabank and Unibank, whose total share in the total market value was 56.8% (against 56.5% of the top five in 2013).
The total assets of the banking system by January 1, 2019 reached 4.96 trillion drams ($ 10.3 billion), and credit investments - 3.3 trillion drams ($ 6.7 billion). The volume of corporate loans as of this date amounted to 2.1 trillion drams ($ 4.3 billion), and retail loans - 1.1 trillion drams ($ 2.3 billion). In annual terms, assets accelerated growth from 6.4% to 14%, credit investments - from 8.8% to 13.8%. In particular, the dynamics of corporate lending unfolded from a 1% recession to 8.8% growth, while accelerating the growth of retail lending from 16.7% to 31.5%. Note that in 2013, there were 21 banks in Armenia, but by 2017 their number had decreased to 17. In particular, at the end of 2015, ProCredit Bank Armenia and BTA Bank withdrew from the market, merging with INECOBANK and Armeconombank, respectively, and in December 2016 Areximbank-GPB Group and Armenian Development Bank merged with Ardshinbank and Araratbank.
This was due to the need to fulfill the tightened requirement of the Central Bank of Armenia on the minimum amount of total capital for banks of 30 billion drams, which will come into force on January 1, 2017 (against the 5 billion drams currently in effect).