YEREVAN, February 2, /ARKA/. Armenian commercial banks reported a 43% drop in their retained profits last year which fell to 15.4 billion Drams from 27 billion Drams in 2008. According to an ARKA analysis, 18 of 22 commercial banks closed last year with 17.1 billion Drams of profits.

ACBA Credit Agricole posted the largest profit of 4.3 billion Drams, but opposed to 2008 it fell by 7.6%. The second largest bank in terms of profits was Ardshininvestbank which earned 1.9 billion Drams in profits, down from 5.2 billion Drams in 2008. The decline amounted to 62.7%. It was followed by HSBC Bank Armenia that earned 1.7 billion Drams, down by 57.6% from 2008. Ameriabank earned 1.5 billion Drams, doubling its profits from 2008. VTB Armenia earned 1.1 billion Drams, Armeconombak 173 million Drams, Anelik Bank 101.2 million Drams. There are 22 commercial banks in Armenia with 391 branches. ($1 – 376.03 Drams). --0—