ARMENIAN PROCREDITBANK’S LOSSES IN 2009 CAUSED BY CONTINUATION OF LENDING AMID CRISIS

ARKA
Feb 25, 2010

YEREVAN, February 25. /ARKA/. Armenian ProCreditBank sustained losses
in 2009 because it didn’t cease lending amid the crisis, Executive
Director of ProCreditBank Bertold Herzfeld said in an interview with
ARKA News Agency.

Besides, the bank invested in development of its branches.

Herzfeld said that the bank’s investments were purposeful, and the
bank invested money in accordance with its business plan.

He said that ProCreditBank’s capitalization is quite high now, and
there is no need to enlarge it.

Besides, the bank has no intention to enter bond market.

The executive director said that the bank is cautious in doing that.

He said that maybe the bank would enter the bond market in the future,
but now its has no such an intention.

ProCredit Bank in Armenia is part of the ProCredit group, which
consists of 22 financial institutions in Eastern Europe, Africa,
and Latin America.

The shareholders of ProCredit Bank are ProCredit Holding AG, the
majority shareholder, with a 67.5% stake; KfW, which holds 15.83%
of the shares; and the EBRD, which holds 16.67% of the shares.

According to ARKA’s data, at the end of 2009 ProCredit bank’s assets
totaled 17 billion Drams, liabilities – 11.5 billion Drams, aggregate
capital – 5.5 billion Drams, credit investments – 12.3 billion Drams,
liabilities towards clients – 6.7 billion Drams. It earned 41.9
million drams in net profits last year. The bank has nine branches.

($1 = AMD 382.41).

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress