Yerevan /Mediamax/. Following the results of 2009, “ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank” leads in the Armenian banking system as to all basic indices.

Mediamax reports that Chief Executive Officer of “ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank” Stepan Gishyan said this at a news conference following the results of the bank’s activity in 2009 in Yerevan today.

“The bank’s assets as of the end of 2009 made about 163bln AMD, having increased by 31.6% in a year, the increase in the bank’s capital last year made 34.8%, reaching 35.418bln AMD, the bank’s profit made about 4.3bln AMD, making 49.6% from the aggregate profit of the banking system of Armenia”, Stepan Gishyan stated.

According to him, the bank’s credit portfolio following the results of 2009 exceeded 90bln AMD (the share in the banking system of Armenia – 12.2%) and the total liabilities of the bank made 127.334bln AMD as of the end of 2009 (the share in the banking system – 12.1%).

“On February 9, 2010, the bank obtained the exclusive right to service American Express cards, and now we carry out large-scale works on expanding the network of those cards’ service”, Stepan Gishyan stated, adding that the bank intends to start issue of American Express cards either in the second or in the third quarter, 2010.

Speaking about the bank’s plans for 2010, Stepan Gishyan stated that the bank has initiated active crediting on all types of credits, and expressed hope that this year will be more successful than the previous one, at that noting signs of economy stabilization, demonstrated following the results of the first two months of the year.

Answering the question on the share of overdue liabilities on credits in the bank’s credit portfolio, Stepan Gishyan stated that share at present is twice lower than the average index in the banking system. Head of “ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank” stressed that in the course of the entire year the bank continues crediting on more than one direction.

Answering the question on the necessity of setting up a hedge fund in Armenia, Stepan Gishyan stated that the year of 2009 “was not the best time” for setting up such a structure in the country, noting that establishment of a hedge fund nevertheless is necessary, since the base of AMD deposits in the Armenian banking system remains unsatisfactory, and in order to meet credit demands of customers, banks have to continue attracting resources in foreign currency.