ArmInfo. ACBA Bank has completed a major public placement of shares to the amount of AMD 7.5bln, with the resulting number of share-holders exceeding 5,200 and the bank showing the leading figures, the bank's press service told ArmInfo. The issue commenced this September, with 500,000 shares offered and 5,639 bids recorded.
ACBA CEO Hakob Andreasyan said: "Our ends and wishes before the public offering of shares concerned not only ourselves, but also our country, economy and future of our society. We have great potential to do more for our country that we have done so far. Of course, all this is to the credit of our shareholders and staff. This step has made us the pioneer company for other to follow suit. I should say that the placement process has been excellent and we have made sure that ACBA is a most important unit in our country with fine repute and trust, which is thinking about the country's future and doing its best for others to follow our example.
"The last couple of days, when the demand for shares increased dramatically, we realized we have yet much to do. We have great untapped potential and we must develop our projects to the best of it and attract as many supporters as possible. This placement is supposed to make us an effective and profitable structure for our shareholders. At the same time we should not forget about the non-financial aspect, which implies that we all must become a locomotive for society and play a more important role in social life.
"I am grateful to our shareholders for their trust. We'll do out utmost to come up to their expectations and build up out future together. Our projects will be aimed at the country's development and forming a new culture in society. I mean forming and disseminating the culture of shareholding. At present we have 5,200 shareholders, which is evidence of our being a popular bank," Mr Andreasyan said. ACBA BANK announced the issue of shares on September 13, 2021 - 500,000 shares worth a total of AMD 7.5bln (at offering price). According to the issue prospectus (offering memorandum), the nominal price of each share is AMD 10,000, with the offering price being AMD 15,000. That is, the nominal issue is worth AMD 5bln, with the total offering price is AMD 7.5bln.
The funds to be received from the public offering are expected to be invested in Armenia's economy - agriculture, new infrastructures, effective use of water resources and a number of other fields, which will contribute to harmonious development of communities and environmental protection.
According to the ArmInfo Financing Ranking of Armenia's Banks of September 30, 2021, the authorized capital of ACBA BANK totaled AMD 50bln (ranked 4th). The bank's aggregate capital is AMD 75.3bln (ranked 3rd). By the end of this October the bank's profit had exceeded AMD 10.8bln. In Jan- Sept 2021, the bank's net profit totaled AMD 7.4bln (ranked 3rd) - with a 3-fold year-on-year increase, with a 4.6-fold increase in the net profit in the 3rd three-month period alone - up to AMD 5.5bln (ranked 1st). As of June 30, 2021, the ACBA BANK shareholder were ACBA Federation (95%) and SJSC "Sacam International" (an Credit Agricole member) - 5%. On Sept. 30, 2021, the AMD/UDS exchange rate was AMD 484.20/$1.
Armeconombank had traditionally been the leader of Armenia's banking sector (5,207 shareholders as of June 30, 2021). But it has now yielded the palm to ACBA BANK. At present, the share of ACBA Federation in the bank is 92.05% against the previous 95%, with the share of SJSC "Sacam International" (an Credit Agricole member) remaining 5%. The rest 2.95% of shares are distributed among ACBA Bank, ACBA Federation and ACBA Leasing staff members.