Azernews.Az

BAKU - The world economic crisis that emerged in 2006 gradually expanded and subsequently swept through countries around the globe.

The ensuing years became the most challenging in the past half-century for many financial, investment and industrial corporations.

Stock in banks and companies plummeted under the heavy burden of the financial downturn, massive lay-offs began in a bid to cut costs, and many banks became unable to meet their obligations, while complex financial models failed to ensure the required liquidity.

Damage from the global financial crisis to the world economy amounted to over $10 trillion.

Amid financial woes, the performance of the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA), the biggest bank in the South Caucasus region, has been remarkable. According to the IBA press-service, the bank’s assets increased 4.5% to reach 5.3 billion manats (over $6.6 billion) as of the end of the first half of 2010. IBA’s credit portfolio hit 4.5bn manats (over $5.6bn), which amounts to a 49% market share and is 58.3% over the same period of 2009. The bank’s liabilities rose 60.4% to 4.67bn manats ($5.83bn).

The number of IBA clients increased 7% in January-June to reach 920,000. The population’s deposits held in the bank are on the increase as well. Deposits rose 22% in a year’s time to reach nearly 600 million manats ($750 million). Income of natural entities from deposits made up 24.4m manats ($30.5m) in the first half-year, or 17% above the figure reported in January-June 2009.

IBA’s capital stock made up around $300m, while the capital reported on its balance sheet totaled $784.6m. The bank transferred 22m manats ($27.5m) to the state budget in taxes in the first half-year.

IBA’s revenues amounted to around $237m, while its pre-tax profit made up $51.7m. The bank’s net profit made up $39.3m in this period.

Thus, IBA met its obligations to its shareholders by retaining high profit levels.
In an effort to further strengthen its positions in the financial and debt markets, the bank has developed a plan of its strategic development for 2010-2015 jointly with the world’s major audit company PricewaterhouseCoopers.

IBA’s outstanding performance and positive dynamics of its financial indicators have been repeatedly highlighted by the world’s leading financial institutions.

IBA has won the international Platinum Key award for its significant contribution to the development of the national banking system. The bank has been named "Best emerging markets bank" by the New York-based Global Finance magazine and "Best bank of CIS, Central and Eastern Europe" by the London-based Emeafinance magazine.

IBA’s successful operations have also been noted by the European Economic Chamber of Trade, Commerce and Industry (EEIG), and IBA was recognized as the most stable bank under crisis conditions in Europe.

IBA holds top international ratings in Azerbaijan from Fitch (BBB-) and Moody’s (Baa3).

IBA was established in 1992 as a successor of the Azerbaijan branch of the Foreign Economy Bank. IBA has a well-developed branch network and provides banking services to large corporate clients and, to a lesser extent, to individuals.

IBA is the only Azerbaijani bank with state participation. The state-owned share in the bank is 50.2 percent, while the rest of the capital is held by private shareholders.