BAKU

PASHA Bank, a leading corporate bank in Azerbaijan, reported a net profit of 90.2 million manats ($53.1 million) in 2021, 7.0 percent up from a year earlier.

The bank’s assets amounted to 6.4 billion manats, 16.2 percent up from 2020. Liabilities rose by 17.3 percent, amounting to 5.8 billion manats.

The bank’s loan portfolio rose by 21.5 percent, amounting to 2.6 billion manats.

The volume of deposits totalled 5.0 billion manats, which is 25.3 percent more than in 2020.

The bank’s capital increased by 6.7 percent to 577.3 million manats.

PASHA Bank said in April last year 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.

Azerbaijan’s banking sector continued to recover last year as the economy rebounded from the global shock of the COVID-19 pandemic, and reported a profit after over a year of losses.

Lenders reported a rise in total net profit of 7.2 percent year-on-year of 609 million manats in 2021, according to the central bank data.

The central bank said that the operating profit of the banking sector rose by 17.3 percent year-on-year to 942.8 million manats, total assets rose by 20 percent to 38.5 billion manats, while total liabilities increased by 22.4 percent to 33.5 billion manats.

The loan portfolio of banks rose by 17.7 percent year-on-year to 16.6 billion manats as of December 31, 2021, the central bank said. Total capitalisation rose by 5.7 percent to 4.97 billion manats. The deposit portfolio increased by 30 percent to 26.9 billion manats, including deposits by individuals, which rose by 12.3 percent to 9.0 billion manats.

There are 26 banks in Azerbaijan, including 12 with foreign capital. The largest bank by assets, the state-owned International Bank of Azerbaijan, reported a 61 percent rise in its net profit year-on-year to 208.8 million manats in 2021.