Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan. 23 / Trend /
AccessBank successfully completed 2011 strengthening its market position. In 2011, the assets of the bank increased by 6 percent, ending the year at over 380 mln manat and the loan portfolio of the bank increased by 11 percent reaching just under 300 mln manat, including the Retail portfolio of the bank which grew by 48 percent and reached just under 25 mln manat. Total deposits increased by 17 percent exceeding 145 mln manat. However, the most significant result for the bank is the preservation of excellent portfolio quality: at the end of 2011, the proportion of the outstanding balance of all loans overdue by more than 30 days was 0.76 percent of the total portfolio!
In addition, the Share Capital of AccessBank was increased by 62 percent and reached 67.8 mln manat. The Share Capital was increased by capitalization of 2010 profit.
Andrew Pospielovsky, General Manager of AccessBank, commenting in the results said: "Despite increasing competition in the Azerbaijan banking sector, AccessBank not only continues to maintain its position as the leading small business bank, but also continues to grow while maintaining industry leading portfolio quality."
With every year, AccessBank's performance is earning greater international recognition: in 2011, Global Finance and Euromoney declared AccessBank the "Best Bank in Azerbaijan‟ and The Banker named AccessBank as "The Bank of the Year" for Azerbaijan in their respective annual awards. In 2011, Fitch Ratings also reaffirmed, once again, AccessBank‟s "ВВ+ - outlook stable" rating - the highest rating among Azerbaijan‟s banks.
To support the continued growth, the bank opened a new regional branch as well as recruited 315 new employees.
AccessBank is 100 percent foreign owned by six shareholders, consisting of: the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development, the International Finance Corporation, the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank, KfW Development Bank - the Development Bank of the German Government (20 percent per each), Access Microfinance Holding acting in microfinance field as a strategic investor (16.5 percent), and LFS Financial Systems GmbH - a German consulting company (3.5 percent).
The official exchange rate is 0.7862 AZN/USD on Jan. 23.