Ameriabank outlines retail business priorities for 2019

ArmInfo. Mortgage lending, consumer lending and SME financing will be priority areas for the retail business in 2019 for Ameriabank. Director of retail business  of Ameriabank Arman Barseghyan said this when answering a question  from ArmInfo during an online press conference held on October 17.

"When choosing mortgage lending as a priority, we were guided by the  presence of objective conditions on the market, the activity of the  real estate market and the level of demand. Moreover, being a  long-term mortgage loans, we are able to provide adequate quality,"  he explained.

Speaking about consumer loans, he noted that in the conditions of  such economic growth, the market will continue to demand for these  loans. "Our current consumer loan portfolio indicates that the actual  volume has exceeded expectations, and in comparison with the past  year there has been a significant increase," he stressed.

According to the Financial Ratings of Banks of Armenia as of July 1,  2018, prepared by ArmInfo IC, Ameriabank continues to lead in terms  of its main financial indicators. The bank's assets amounted to 693.5  billion drams ($ 1.4 billion, 1st position) with an annual growth of  6.2%, credit investments - 495.3 billion drams ($ 1.03 billion, 1st  position) with an annual growth of 17.9%. In the Bank's loan  portfolio, retail loans account for about 16% or 77.8 billion drams  ($ 161.3 million, 5th position) with an annual growth of 61.5%. The  share of the mortgage accounts for about 7% of the loan portfolio of  the bank or 33.2 billion drams ($ 68.8 million, 1st position) with an  annual growth of 53.3%. The share of consumer loans accounts for  almost 9% of the loan portfolio of the bank or 45.4 billion drams ($  87.8 million), with an annual growth of 74.6%. Ameriabank's SME loan  portfolio amounted to 85.1 billion drams ($ 176.4 million, 2nd  position in the market) or 17.2% of the total loan portfolio of the  bank and over 12% of total investments of banks in this sector. In  annual terms, the Bank increased its SME lending portfolio by 14%.  The first half of 2018, the Bank completed with a net profit of 5.9  billion drams ($ 12.3 million, 1st position), ensuring an annual  growth of 77.4%.

Note that Ameriabank has been operating on the Armenian market since  October 31, 1996. Shareholders of Ameribank on July 1, 2018 are  Ameria Group CY Ltd. - 56.6%, EBRD - 17.8%, Asian Development Bank -  13.98%, ESPS Holding Limited - 11.62%. Ameriabank has a branch  network of 16 subdivisions, of which 10 are metropolitan and 6 are  regional.