ArmInfo.S&P Global Ratings raised its long-term issuer credit rating on Ameriabank CJSC to 'BB-', outlook stable. The upgrade follows a similar action on Armenia. The ratings on Ameriabank are no longer constrained by the sovereign's creditworthiness and are now commensurate with its standalone credit profile of 'bb-'.
In S&P's view, Ameriabank is well positioned to retain its leading market position in Armenia (it is the largest domestic lending institution with a market share of about 19% of loans at June 30, 2023), leveraging on its digital channels and diversifying further into the retail and small and midsize enterprise segments. S&P also expects Ameriabank to retain adequate capital adequacy in upcoming years, supported by strong internal capital generation.
The stable outlook reflects S&P's view that over the next 12-18 months Ameriabank will maintain its leading positions in the Armenian banking sector and manage its expected strong lending growth while maintaining stable capital buffers.
About Ameriabank
Ameriabank is a leading financial and technology company in Armenia, a major contributor to the Armenian economy, with assets exceeding AMD 1 trillion. In the course of digital transformation, it has launched a number of innovative solutions and platforms going beyond banking-only needs of its diverse customer base, thus creating a dynamically evolving financial technology space.
Ameria was the first in Armenia to create ecosystems for both businesses and individuals, which give one- window access to a range of banking and non-banking services, among them - Estate.ameriabank.am, Automarket.ameriabank.am, Business.ameriabank.am.
As a truly customer-centric company, Ameria aims to be a trusted and secure financial technology space with seamless solutions to improve the quality of life.
Ameriabank is supervised by the Central Bank of RA.
According to the ArmInfo Rating of Armenian Banks as of June 30, 2023, Ameribank increased its loan portfolio year-on-year by 20.1% to $2.1 billion, taking leadership in the country's banking sector. Moreover, having increased retail lending by 28% per annum, the bank took first position in terms of volume at $812 million, and with an increase in corporate lending by 17% to $1.3 billion, it secured its leadership with an even greater gap from the rest. In lending to SMEs, Ameriabank moved up to 2nd position, providing a volume of $506.7 million with an annual growth of 22%. Ameriabank is a leader in lending to such sectors of the economy as industry, construction, transport and communications, takes 2nd position in financing the agricultural sector and trade, and is in the TOP-5 in lending to the catering and services sectors. The bank also maintains leadership in mortgage lending, ensuring the growth of this portfolio by 30% per annum - up to $543 million. In the banking system of Armenia, only the capital of Ameriabank includes such institutional investors as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) , whose total participation share is 31.63%.
