YEREVAN, May 21. /ARKA/. Armenian banks’ loan loss reserves in the first quarter of 2018 amounted to 140.8 billion drams, an increase of 37% or 38.1 billion drams when compared to the same period last year, according to ARKA news agency’s quarterly bulletin ‘Banks of Armenia" for the first quarter of 2018.

From the beginning of the year the amount of reserves grew by 3.8 billion drams or by 2.8%. The share of reserves in the credit portfolio of the banks increased from 5.18% to 5.23%. The to five banks by size of loan loss reserves were Unibank, VTB Bank (Armenia), Ameriabank, ACBA-CREDIT AGRICOLE BANK and HSBC Bank Armenia.

Unibank's reserves at the end of the first quarter amounted to 33.1 billion drams, an increase of 1.63% from the beginning of the year, making 23.36% of its loan portfolio. The loan loss reserves of VTB Bank (Armenia) totaled 30.7 billion drams (down 2.9%). They made 23.15% of its lending portfolio.

Ameriabank’s loan loss reserves grew by almost 40% to 16.1 billion drams to make 3.52% of its lending portfolio; those of ACBA-CREDIT AGRICOLE BANK fell by 11.1% to 14.7 billion drams making 7.43% of its overall lending portfolio and the loan loss reserves of HSBC Bank Armenia stood at 9.3 billion drams, down 12.3% from the beginning of the year. They constituted 10.04% of its overall lending portfolio.

In late March 2018 the overall lending portfolio of all Armenian banks stood at 2.690.9 trillion drams, having increased by 1.72% from the beginning of the year. ($ 1- 483.03 dram). -0-