Ameriabank’s trade financing portfolio in nine months amounts to about $50 million

YEREVAN, September 17. / ARKA /. Ameriabank’s trade financing portfolio in the first nine months of 2014 amounted to about $50 million, having skyrocketed by 43 percent from the same time span of 2013, Gagik Sahakyan, the bank’s director for corporate customers, told a news conference today.

According to him,  $15 million of the total lending portfolio are factoring transactions, $5.6 million are leasing transactions  and the rest are  letters of credit and guarantees. 

He said the bank looks at trade financing as one of its priorities ‘because this tool allows it to earn non-interest income securing  also high indicators due to the high negotiability of funds.’ 

"This is a very interesting business with sufficiently low risks and high profitability. We are the leader by size of trade financing not only among Armenian banks, but also among subsidiaries of international banks in Armenia, for which it is quite a common tool," said Sahakyan. 

At the same time, he noted that Ameriabank prefers factoring transactions, letters of credit and guarantees.

"Of all the tools we do not prioritize leasing transactions, because it is a specific product with low interest rates and incomplete legislation," said Sahakyan.

Ameriabank is a universal bank that provides investment, corporate and retail banking services in the form of a comprehensive package of banking solutions. It  is the first investment bank in Armenia that has been providing a wide range of innovative banking services since 2007.

The bank's assets as of July 1, 2014 amounted to 342.7 billion drams (an 8.8% growth from the beginning of the year), its  liabilities stood at 302.5 billion drams (up 9.48%), the capital – at 40.2 billion. drams (up 3.9%). The bank earned 2.8 billion drams in profit in the first half (the second largest among local commercial banks). ($ 1 - 408.84 drams). -0--.