AraratBank has raised EUR 3 million from two funds advised by impact investor Incofin Investment Management: EUR 1,5 million from Volksvermogen NV and EUR 1,5 million from Incofin CVSO providing micro entrepreneurs an access to small loans.  

“The collaboration with Incofin IM since 2012 witnesses the stable and efficient cooperation between the two institutions. It should be underlined that in the conditions of the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, AraratBank has been always keeping the small and medium enterprises in its spotlight, attaching great improtance to the sustainable development of enterprises in support of the country's economic growth, creation and retention of jobs. Back in December 2020, AraratBank borrowed USD 5 million from Incofin IM-advised Microfinance Enhancement Facility (MEF) to foster the SME sector in Armenia. This time the funds have been raised in euros. It is noteworthy that loans of around 4,000,000 euros of the Bank’s existing loan portfolio have already been disbursed from Incofin funds” noted Mher Ananyan, Chairman of the Executive Board of AraratBank.   

“Araratbank and Incofin work closely together since 2012. As an impact investor, we try to provide support to our clients not only in good times, but also when times are difficult. That is why we are pleased to involve two more Incofin funds in the recent transaction” commented Jan Dewijngaert, Regional Director EECA of Incofin Investment Management.

About Incofin IM

Incofin Investment Management (Incofin IM) is a global independent impact investment company, focused on rural and agricultural finance. Driven by a desire to promote inclusive progress, Incofin strives to provide the support to entrepreneurs’ needs in order to improve to lives of the less privileged people. Incofin IM is an AIFM licensed fund manager and has over EUR 1 billion in assets under management. Incofin has a team of more than 60 professionals spread over the headquarters in Belgium and local investment offices in Cambodia, Colombia, India and Kenya.

www.incofin.com

About AraratBank

Founded in 1991, AraratBank open joint-stock company is one of the leaders in the Armenian banking sector, providing the latest and highest quality banking services to both individuals and legal entities, applying cutting-edge technologies to develop banking services and creating a special business culture in bank-client relations.

With the innovative banking technologies and best practices of corporate governance, the bank has 53 branches across the country. AraratBank actively participates in the real sector of Armenian economy, particularly in SME lending. AraratBank cooperates with 17 reputable international financial institutions.

By reporting a stable growth of financial indicators year on year, AraratBank takes its unique position in the banking sector of the Republic of Armenia. Thus, as of the performance indicators in Quarter 1, 2021, total assets stood at USD 501.8 million. Loan portfolio stood at USD 281.2 million, with the share of corporate loans totaling 54․8%  (USD 154.1 million) and the share of retail loans totaling 47.7% (USD 134.1 million) in the loan portfolio.

Total liabilities in the reporting period stood at USD 426.3 million. The share of borrowings from IFIs in total liabilities stood at around 30.0% or USD 127.8 million, the share of term deposits stood at 23.5% or USD 100.3 million, while the share of demand deposits stood at 22.4% or USD 95.3 million. In Quarter 1, 2021, the Bank succeeded in reporting growth of term deposits by USD 12.9 million (14.8%).

Total capital - due to devaluation of Armenian dram against U.S. dollar - reported growth of USD 75.5 million as compared to the indicator of the previous year - USD 73.2 million. In Quarter 1, 2021, net profit stood at USD 3.4 million. In Quarter 1, AraratBank provided a capital adequacy of 14.73% and a total liquidity of 27.49%.

https://www.araratbank.am and https://www.facebook.com/AraratBankofficial