YEREVAN, March 15. /ARKA/. Areximbank – Gazprombank Group’s profit is expected to reach $3.5 million by the end of this year, the bank’s press office reported on Tuesday.

This will ensure profitability not lower than the average banking level.
According to the press release, this year the bank also intends to attract 40% greater financial resources than before.

Besides, the bank is planning to enlarge its total assets by 37% and build up its loan portfolio by 50% this year.

Areximbank-Gazprombank Group (former Areximbank, renamed on June 12, 2009) was established in August 1998 for supporting entrepreneurship and serving financial flows between Russia and Armenia.

The bank is a member of VISA International and MasterCard International payment systems.

In November 2007, Russian Gazprombank acquired bought 80% of Areximbank’s shares.

In July 2008, Areximbank issued additional bonds, which were bough by Gaprombank as well.

As a result, Gazprombank’s share in Areximbank reached 94.15%.
In September 2008, Gazprombank bought the remaining 5.85% from Raiffeisenbank and is now the sole owner of the bank.

The bank’s authorized capital amounted to AMD 12.3 billion, total capital AMD 14.4 billion and normative total capital AMD 20.3 billion by January 1, 2011.

Its net profit grew five times in 2010, compared with 2009, reaching AMD 1 billion by late December 2010.

The bank’s assets totalled AMD 67.4 billion in early January 2011 after growing 72.8% over the year 2010, and its loan portfolio grew by 130.8% to AMD 49.4 billion.

Areximbank-Gazprombank Group was among the banking system’s leaders in 2010 for growth in main indicators. -0-