Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 30
By Anvar Mammadov - Trend:
The gradual stabilization of the banking sector in Azerbaijan has spurred interest in the shares of banks traded on the Baku stock exchange, capital markets expert Jafar Ibrahimli told Trend Aug. 29.
The expert noted that currently there are two banks in Azerbaijan whose shares are freely traded on the market - the International Bank of Azerbaijan and Kapital Bank.
He said the shares of Kapital Bank are currently sold above their nominal value, while the securities of the International Bank of Azerbaijan are sold slightly below their nominal value.
"The shares of Kapital Bank are currently sold at a cost of 34-35 manats per security, with a nominal value of 12.39 manats. The main reason for this interest is due to the fact that last year the shareholders of the bank received dividends in the amount of about six manats for each share. Financial indicators of the bank, in particular profitability, in the first half of the year also show that its profitability in the current year will be even higher than in the past year. And investors, in turn, always react to such news," Ibrahimli said.
Referring to the International Bank of Azerbaijan, the expert noted that the process of restructuring of the bank had a positive impact on the value of its shares.
"The shares of the International Bank of Azerbaijan became much cheaper in 2016. Then, they were traded on the stock exchange at the price of 0.07 manats per share, while the face value of one security was 0.27 manats. Currently, the value of the bank's shares has doubled to 0.15 manats for each security. I believe that today investors are waiting for the financial performance of the bank in 2018. The bank's capital has already been restored, the restructuring is completed, and the preparations for privatization are underway. If the bank shows good results at the end of the year, the interest in its shares will increase," Ibrahimli said.
Ibrahimli added that today, to attract investors, the rest of the country's banks must also be actively present at the stock exchange and conduct an IPO.
"The banking sector of Azerbaijan is a few steps ahead of the rest of the country's economy. Today, every Azerbaijani bank could conduct an IPO, and I believe that this step would be very successful. It is simply necessary that their financial performance reaches a level that allows to attract foreign investors," Ibrahimli said.
To date, Unibank has announced its intention to conduct an initial public offering. The Chairman of the Management Board of Unibank OJSC Commercial Bank Faig Huseynov told reporters earlier, this step is a strategic task for the bank. At the same time, the head of the bank noted that it is necessary to consolidate financial indicators and keep them at a consistently high level for a certain period of time.