ArmInfo. Loan portfolio quality in Armenia's banking system keeps deteriorating, as NPLs accounted for 13.6% of total already in April 2016 versus 8.5% a year ago (7.5% in Q1 2014). In absolute terms, the NPL growth rates increased from 38% to 63% (versus 29% year on year growth in Q1 2014) to 316bln drams. 

ArmInfo. By April 2016, the customer base of the Armenian banking system had 2, 283,614 individuals and 76,649 legal entities. According to the National Statistical Service of Armenia, as many as 2,360,263 customers had 4,301,495 accounts in Armenian banks, including 4,124,168 accounts of individuals and 177,327 accounts of legal entities.

ArmInfo.The Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) has approved the delivery and acceptance act concluded between ProCredit Bank and INECOBANK under the merger agreement, and registered INECOBANK's redrafted charter. According to the new charter, INECOBANK is the legal successor of ProCredit Bank. The CBA press office has told ArmInfo that the CBA Board took that decision on 10 May 2016. By the same decision, the CBA has declared ProCredit Bank's No.85 license null and void.        

ArmInfo.  In Q1 2016, the bankingsystem of Armenia paid 9.3 bln AMD or $19.4 mln in taxes (4% lessthan a year before). Over 88% of this amount, or 8.2 bln AMD, was paid in direct taxes (including profit tax and income tax), 6% less than a year before. According to the Armenian State Revenue Committee, in Q1 2016 the top hundred taxpayers of Armenia included 13 out of the 21 banks (13 banks in Q1 2015). The top five taxpayers among the banks are ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank, Ardshinbank, VTB Bank (Armenia), Ameriabank and HSBC Bank Armenia (the same banks were also the top five in Q1 2015). In Q1 2016, these banks paid a total of 4.5 bln AMD in taxes (down 8% versus Q1 2015), including 4 bln AMD in
direct taxes (down 7% versus Q1 2015).

ArmInfo. In Q1 2016 net profit of Armenia's banking system grew by 33% y-o-y to 3.1 bln AMD ($ 6.4 mln), but the role of profits from credits was not significant in ensuring it.  According to the Express Ranking of Armenian Banks prepared by the Agency of Rating Marketing Information (ArmInfo) this indicator grew due to mainly four banks, which demonstrated profits after registering tangible losses and ensured 2-4-fold y-o-y growth. 16 banks in total operated with profit in Q1 2016, 7 of which have worsened their financial result by 18-71%.

ArmInfo. The Central Bank of Armenia has approved the merger agreement of ProCredit Bank and INECOBANK. The press office of INECOBANK told ArmInfo on April 28 that the Central Bank Board approved the merger agreement on April 26, 2016.   

ArmInfo.

ArmInfo. Inecobank CJSC was named "Best Trade Partner Bank" in 2015 at IFC's 7th Global Trade Partners Meeting, which took place in Milan, Italy, in February 2016. The Best Trade Partner Bank WCSS Award recognizes Inecobank's major contribution to IFC's trade finance programs in Armenia, the press-service of Inecobank reports. 

ArmInfo. Around 30% of pension savings of defined pension system funds are maintained on bank deposits and these funds are used for financing Armenia's real sector, Karen Hakobyan, Head of the Securities Market Management Department of the Central Bank of Armenia, said to ArmInfo's correspondent talking about the influence of the defined pension system on the country's banking system. "I can positively assess the influence of the pension reform", he noted.

ArmInfo. Since the launch of the defined contribution pension system in Armenia, the share of its assets in the Armenian GDP made up 0.7%, or 35.5 bln AMD by 29 Feb 2016. 16.5 bln AMD of the specified amount is the contributions of the system participants, with 16.5 bln AMD being the state co-funding and 2.5 bln AMD being the revenues of the Pension Fund, Karen Hakobyan, Head of the Securities Market Management Department of the Central Bank of Armenia, said at today's press conference organized at the initiative of the Economic Journalists Club and Konrad- Adenauer-Stiftung. Hakobyan noted that the annual yield of the pension assets in the defined pension system made up 7%.

ArmInfo.

ArmInfo.

ArmInfo. Most of Armenian banks have significantly corrected their financial results of 2014 in the report for 2015. Eventually, instead of the anticipated 32.8% decline of net profits in 2015, this indicator increased 12.4% to 18.3 bln drams ($37.7 mln). 

ArmInfo. Six big Armenian banks secured the Central Bank's minimum total capital requirement for 2017 - 30 bln drams - as early as in the beginning of 2016. These are Ameriabank, ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank, HSBC Bank Armenia, Ardshinbank, VTB Bank (Armenia) and INECOBANK. 

ArmInfo.  Remarks voiced in the Armenian Parliament said that the closure of ProCredit Bank will leave over 100 employees jobless.  In response, INECOBANK - the new owner of ProCredit Bank - has come out with a statement: "One of the key prerequisites of the merge was the similarity of the two banks' corporate governance culture and the availability of professional teams. In fact, this can be considered the most important asset acquired by INECOBANK". 

ArmInfo. Armenia's banking system paid 41.4 billion drams taxes, with a 10% year on year growth.  Profit and incomes taxes accounted for 37.2bln drams of total. The State Revenue Committee of Armenia reports that 13 out of 22 operating banks (including the non- commercial PanArmenian Bank) are among Top 100 taxpayers of Armenia for 2015 versus 11 banks in 2014.  Top five taxpayer banks are Ameriabank, VTB Bank (Armenia), Ardshinbank, HSBC Bank Armenia and Armbusinessbank.

ArmInfo.  Macroeconomic and financial stability predetermined economic growth in the mid-term. As a result it became possible to prevent further decline of purchasing power because of already small profits, Armenia's chief banker Arthur Javadyan told at the New Year reception in the Central Bank of Armenia on December 25. 

ArmInfo. In 2015, 56845 citizens of Armenia joined the paid pension system (PPS), with the number of active payers reaching 130,000 people.  As of December 15, a total of 15.2 billion drams were paid, of which 7.6 billion drams were co-funded by the Government, Vahan Stepanyan, Head of the Central Depository of Armenia, told a news conference on December 23 He said the participatory interests for 2.2 billion drams were paid for 60 291 citizens in 2015, while another 159 participants did not manage to take their money back. V. Stepanyan said to avoid such mismatches, the Central Depository opened an account at Converse Bank for the given pension payments. "We could not contact 160 participants of the PPS to send annual reports on their accounts.  That is why we opened a special account at Converse Bank and transferred their funds to it. Now, they can get their money in cash after submitting an identification certificate to the Bank. According to Converse Bank, as of December 3, 37 participants in the paid pensions system received their funds," he said.

ArmInfo. Pioneer and one of the consumer lending leaders on the Armenian market, INECOBANK will shortly become one of the largest financial institutions of Armenia. To attain that goal, the Bank has settled the problem of capitalization successfully and effectively. To meet the Armenian Central Bank’s requirement that comes into effect in 2017, the Bank has recently increased its capital by acquiring the Armenian subsidiary of the German ProCredit Bank and attracted the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) – a reliable partner and institutional investor as a stakeholder. In an interview with ArmInfo, Chairman of the Management Board of INECOBANK Taron Ganjalyan speaks of the merger and further development strategy of the Bank.

ArmInfo. After merger of banks, the call liabilities of the merged bank will be valid within 1 year, while time deposits will remain valid under contract terms, Deputy Chairman of Armenia's Central Bank Nerses Yeritsyan said when presenting the draft amendments to the Law "On Guarantee of Remuneration of Bank Deposits of Physical Entities". On December 21, the Armenian Parliament amended that law in the first reading.