YEREVAN, December 17. /ARKA/. AraratBank has raised 5 million USD from Incofin IM-advised Microfinance Enhancement Facility (MEF) to foster the SME sector in Armenia through its ongoing effective cooperation with reputable international financial institutions, the bank’s press service said today.
“I am confident that this agreement will give rise to a constructive collaboration between AraratBank and the Microfinance Enhancement Facility, and also delighted that we have the opportunity to expand the list of reputable international financial institutions we work with. This funding will increase the availability of financial resources for SMEs, enable them to develop and realize their innovative entrepreneurial ideas, and will increase competitiveness in this field. It is noteworthy that the SME loan portfolio of the bank is over 25 million USD as of this date, and with signing of this new agreement this figure will increase” noted Mher Ananyan, Chairman of the Executive Board of AraratBank.
Jan Dewijngaert, Regional Director Eastern Europe & Central Asia at Incofin commented: “Araratbank and Incofin work closely together since 2012. Through one of its funds, Incofin was also a shareholder of the bank until early this year. As an impact investor, we try to provide support to our clients not only in good times, but also when times are difficult. That is why we are pleased to involve MEF in this latest funding.”
“MEF is pleased to support the dynamic growth of AraratBank, an important source of financing for the Armenian micro and small business sector” said Karlo De Waal, Chairman of the MEF Investment Committee.
About the Microfinance Enhancement Facility
The Microfinance Enhancement Facility (MEF) was initiated in 2009 by KfW Entwicklungsbank (“KfW”) and International Finance Corporation (“IFC”), a member of the World Bank Group as a joint initiative with OeEB (the Development Bank of Austria). Incofin IM is an Investment Advisor to the fund. MEF supports economic development and prosperity globally through the provision of additional development finance to micro-enterprises, via qualified financial institutions. In pursuing its development goal, MEF observes principles of sustainability and additionality, combining development and market orientations.
About Incofin IM
Incofin Investment Management (Incofin IM) is a global independent impact investment company, focused on rural and agricultural finance. Driven by a desire to promote inclusive progress, Incofin strives to provide the support entrepreneurs’ needs in order to improve to lives of the less privileged people. Incofin IM is an AIFM licensed fund manager and has over EUR 1 billion in assets under management. Incofin has a team of more than 60 professionals spread over the headquarters in Belgium and local investment offices in Cambodia, Colombia, India and Kenya.
About AraratBank
Founded in 1991, AraratBank OJSC is one of the leaders in the Armenian banking sector, providing the latest and highest quality banking services to both individuals and legal entities, applying cutting-edge technologies to develop banking services and creating a special business culture in bank-client relations.
With the innovative banking technologies and best practices of corporate governance, the bank has 56 branches across the country. AraratBank actively participates in the real sector of Armenian economy, particularly in SME lending. AraratBank cooperates with 17 reputable international financial institutions.
By reporting a stable growth of financial indicators year on year, AraratBank takes its unique position in the banking sector of the Republic of Armenia. Despite the global challenges, the bank succeeded in ensuring the stability of key financial indicators. Thus, as of the performance indicators in late September, total assets stood at USD 487.0 million. Loan portfolio stood at USD 296.1 million, with the share of corporate loans totaling 55․2% (USD 163.3 million) and the share of retail loans totaling 46.8% (USD 138.4 million) in the loan portfolio.
Total liabilities in the reporting period stood at USD 406.3 million. The share of borrowings from IFIs in total liabilities stood at around 31.8% or USD 129.2 million, the share of term deposits stood at 24.3% or USD 98.9 million, while the share of demand deposits stood at 21.9% or USD 88.8 million. In 2020, the bank succeeded in reporting growth of term deposits by USD 24 million (32.1%).
Total capital reported growth of USD 80.7 million as compared to the indicator of the previous year – USD 77.7 million. In 2020, a nine-month net profit stood at USD 4.3 million. Despite the challenges in 2020, AraratBank managed to maintain the ratios of capital adequacy at 15.28% and total liquidity at 24.78% as of September. -0-
