/KASE, April 10, 2023/ – ForteBank JSC (Astana), whose securities are officially
listed on Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE), has provided KASE with the
following press release dated April 10, 2023:
quote
Against the background of such uncertainties in the economy as high inflation,
international sanctions against the main trading partner of Kazakhstan – the
Russian Federation, the destruction of established transport and logistics
chains, Kazakhstan's ForteBank ended 2022 with record high key indicators
(according to consolidated financial statements under IFRS)*:
- Assets grew by 15% to 2.8 trillion tenge;
- The loan portfolio grew by 45% to 1.17 trillion tenge;
- The deposit portfolio grew by 16% to 2 trillion tenge;
- Net profit amounted to 98 billion tenge, which is by 53% more than a year
earlier.
The Bank is actively digitizing services for business; at the moment, most
operations and services for legal entities have gone online and are available
from the ForteBusiness app. The digitalization of banking for business has been
highly appreciated by the international expert community. At the end of 2022,
the professional magazine AsiaMoney named Forte the best bank in Kazakhstan for
small and medium-sized businesses.
In 2022, Forte disbursed loans to legal entities for 726.5 billion tenge, which
is 58% more than a year earlier. The deposit portfolio of legal entities
increased by 11% and reached 1.26 trillion tenge.
In the retail segment, the ForteApp app has already become the main sales
channel. If in 2021 only 20% of unsecured loans were provided online, in 2022
this figure was 86%. Almost all new bank deposits (99%) are opened in the app.
As a result, in 2022, Forte's retail loan portfolio grew by 38% amounting to
428.3 billion tenge. Individual deposits increased by 26% to 748.5 billion
tenge.
"Working consistently and professionally, in 2022 our team was able to take
advantage of the existing market opportunities. Without increasing the level of
risk, we achieved an increase in the number of well performing clients in the
bank, which led to excellent performance in all business areas. These results
were also assessed by rating agencies: over the past year, two major
international agencies have upgraded our credit ratings," comments Bekzhan
Pirmatov, Chairman of the Forte's Management Board.
ForteBank is one of the largest banks in Kazakhstan in terms of assets and has a
wide branch network throughout the country. In March 2023 S&P Global Ratings
upgraded its outlook on ForteBank's rating to "stable" and affirmed the rating
at "BB-/B". In September 2022, Fitch Ratings upgraded ForteBank's long-term
rating to "BB-" with a "Stable" outlook. Both agencies noted strengthening of
positions on capitalization, improvement of the asset quality, and also strong
market positions of Forte.
*Approval by the annual general meeting of shareholders of the audited financial
statements of ForteBank JSC is expected on May 2, 2023.
unquote
The full version of the press release is available -
https://kase.kz/files/emitters/ASBN/asbn_relizs_100423.pdf
[2023-04-10]