BAKU

PASHA Bank, a leading corporate bank in Azerbaijan, reported a net profit of 50.64 million manats ($30 million) in the first half of 2021, 75 percent up from the same period in 2020.

In the first quarter of this year, the bank’s profit rose 5.4 times to 18.79 million manats.

The bank’s assets amounted to 5.9 billion manats, 7.8 percent up from January-June 2020. Liabilities rose by 8.6 percent, amounting to 5.4 billion manats.

The bank’s loan portfolio rose by 4.8 percent, amounting to 2.2 billion manats.

The volume of deposits totalled 4.5 billion manats, which is 12.9 percent more than in the first half of the last year.

The bank’s capital increased by 0.6 percent to 544.6 million manats.

PASHA Bank said in April that it had planned to increase its capital to more than 404 million manats and to maintain the growth rate of the loan portfolio at the average market level in 2021-2023.

Fitch Ratings has affirmed PASHA Bank’s national long-term rating at ‘A-(tur)’ and outlook “Stable” in October 2020. JCR Eurasia Rating has assigned PASHA Bank an overall compliance score of 9.20 with CMB Corporate Governance Principles by revising it upwards along with a “Stable” outlook in June last year.

PASHA Bank has a head office, six branches and currency exchange offices in the capital Baku as well as three regional offices in the cities of  Ganja, Zagatala and Guba.

PASHA Bank was established in June 2007 and is one of the top three commercial banks in Azerbaijan by assets. The bank’s shareholders are two legal entities – PASHA Holding (56.82 percent) and Ador LLC (28.18 percent), as well as one individual – Arif Pashayev (15 percent), who is an uncle of the country’s First Lady and First Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva.

There are 26 banks in Azerbaijan, including 12 with foreign capital.

Azerbaijan’s banking sector is starting to show signs of recovery as the economy rebounds from the global shock of the COVID-19 pandemic, though it still reported lower profits than a year earlier.

Lenders reported a fall in total net profit of 1.5 percent year-on-year of 366.3 million manats in the period from January to June 2021, but an increase from the 273.2 million manats reported a month earlier.

The Central Bank said that the operating profit of the banking sector rose by 16.7 percent year-on-year to 502.4 million manats in the first six months of 2021. Total assets rose by 3.1 percent to 33.1 billion manats, while total liabilities increased by 3.1 percent to 28.2 billion manats. Banks’ liabilities to the Central Bank declined by 0.9 percent to 371.1 million manats.