YEREVAN, November 23. /ARKA/. ARKA Agency has ranked ten Armenian banks with highest banking salaries as of the end of September, 2012.

The following banks appeared on the first top ten list: HSBC Bank Armenia, Byblos Bank Armenia, Armswissbank, Ameriabank, Armenian Development Bank, Conversebank, Areximbank-Group of Gasprombank, ProCredit Bank, Inecobank and Bank VTB (Armenia).

Average banking salary was 352,704drams in top ten banks as of the end of the third quarter, as compared with 275,942 drams in the banking system in general. There are currently 21 banks (and 458 branches) operating in Armenia.

HSBC Bank Armenia tops the list with an average monthly salary of 621,000drams. At the same time, the salary of the bank’s employees reduced by 10.9% in the third quarter as compared with Q2; number of staff has reduced from 395 to 389 respectively.

The second is Byblos Bank Armenia with an average of 434,000drams, an 11.8% reduction against Q2; the staff has increased from 93 to 96 respectively.

Armswissbank is the third in ARKA’s ratings, with an average salary of 386,000drams in the third quarter, which is a 16.6% increase as compared to the level in Q2. The number of staff remained the same (98).

Ameriabank has taken the fourth place with an average salary of 367,000drams (an 11.5% reduction against Q2); number of employees has reduced from 471 to 457 (as of 30.09.2012).

Armenian Development Bank takes the fifth line with an average of 323,000drams (3.5% increase over the quarter); the number of staff has gone up from 168 to 182.

Conversebank is the sixth in the top-ten list: the average salary is 317,000 (3.4% increase), number of employees has reduced from 642 to 610 people.

The seventh bank in the list, Areximbank-Group of Gasprombank, pays an average salary of 284,000drams (reduction of 13.1%); 441 people are employed by the bank in the third quarter as compared to 422 in Q2.

ProCredit Bank with an average salary of 275,000drams (3.2% lower than in Q2) has taken the eight place in the ranking; the bank has increased number of its staff from 322 to 355 people.

The ninth best paying bank is Inecobank where the average salary is 267,000drams in the third quarter (a 21.7% contraction from the quarter before); the bank’s staff has gone up from 514 in Q2 to 520 people in Q3.

Bank VTB (Armenia) is the last in the top-ten list: it pays an average salary of 253,000drams (15% rise against Q2). The bank has the highest number of staff and the largest network throughout the country; number of employees grew from 1,146 to 1,180 over the third quarter.

Of the top-ten banks with highest banking salaries, six banks have also recorded a salary increase in yearly terms (September 2012 against September 2011).

The highest salary increase was recorded in Bank VTB (Armenia), where the average salary rose by 44.6% over the period. The second is Conversebank (24.5% salary raise), followed by Armenian Development Bank (8.7%), Areximbank-Group of Gasprombank (7.9%), Inecobank (6.4%) and ProCredit Bank (0.4%).

The source of the rankings is “Banks of Armenia” quarterly bulletin of ARKA Agency prepared on the basis of financial reports and other information from the banks. –0--