YEREVAN, February 16. /ARKA/. ‘Kamurj’ universal credit organization said today it had closed 2015 with a profit of 370 million drams. It said also its assets stood at 15.6 billion drams at the end of last year and its loan portfolio was worth about 12 billion drams.

"Despite the fact that 2015 was a difficult year for Armenia’s financial system, Kamurj managed to close it with a significant profit of about 370 million drams thanks to consistent work of its staff as well as use of effective mechanisms for risk management,' Kamurj said in a press release.

The company said also it provided 8.7 billion drams worth loans last year.

Kamurj was also one of five Armenian credit organizations (Garni Invest, New Horizon, Global Credit, CARD and AgroCredit) to successfully launch in late 2015 the first securitized bond issuance at NASDAQ OMX Armenia stock exchange announcing the listing of these bonds at the stock exchange for the secondary market trade. The landmark transaction was made possible through the joint efforts of USAID and Capital Investments.

The deal is expected to make more funds available for the development of rural areas – to help farmers expand production and entrepreneurs start businesses in rural villages. The bonds were issued by a newly established special purpose vehicle, the Loan Portfolio Securitization Fund I.

Managed by Capital Investments, the Fund was established in August 2015 with the purpose of securitizing the $2 million worth microfinance loans of the five participating universal credit organizations. The Securitization Fund is offering the bonds publicly on NASDAQ OMX Armenia. To make this investment attractive and relatively risk-free for bondholders, a USAID Development Credit Authority (DCA) guarantee was issued in late November 2015 to cover 50 percent of the bond’s principal.

Primary bondholders include pension asset managers and several banks, among other financial institutions. The bondholders are collectively represented by a legal agent approved by USAID, as a guarantor for the transaction.

Kamurj was founded in 2012 as a result of reorganization of Kamurj LTD.-0-