ASTANA – The loan portfolio among Kazakh banks declined 12 percent, and assets 5 percent, in 2017. Fifteen of 32 banks operating in the country had a negative return on assets, reported finprom.kz.
By the end of 2017, the assets of the 32 banks reached 24.2 trillion tenge (US$75.02 billion), 0.2 percent more than in November, yet 5.2 percent less than the previous year. To compare, the asset volume showed 7.5-percent annual growth in 2016 compared to 2015.
The most significant reduction in asset portfolio was in July – 5.2 percent compared to the previous month. January and February posted 1.3-percent and 1.4-percent reductions, respectively.
Among Kazakh second-tier banks (STBs), Halyk Bank has the largest asset volume at 5 trillion tenge (US$15.5 billion). It posted 2.7-percent growth last year, increasing its share among STBs from 19.1 percent to 20.7 percent.
Qazkom, with a volume of 3.5 trillion tenge (US$10.85 billion), posted a 28.3-percent decline compared to the previous year. Its STB share decreased from 19 percent to 14.4 percent. The bank is in the process of consolidating with those who bought it, which could explain the drop.
Tsesnabank closes the top three, with 2.2 trillion tenge (US$6.82 billion) and 3.5-percent growth for the year. Its STB share has increased from 8.1 percent to 8.9 percent. Tsesnabank is also consolidating, due to the acquisition of Bank of CenterCredit (BCC).
RBK Bank posted last year’s sharpest decline in assets, falling 41.8 percent from 1 trillion tenge (US$3.1 billion) to 594.3 billion tenge (US$1.84 billion). Its share among STBs decreased from 4 percent to 2.5 percent.
AsiaCredit Bank had a 36.2-percent decline in 2017 from 253.7 billion tenge (US$786.47 million) to 161.9 billion tenge (US$501.89 million). Its STB share decreased from 1 to 0.7 percent.
At the end of 2017, the STB loan portfolio asset share was 56.1 percent (13.6 trillion tenge (US$42.16 billion)). A month earlier, it was 56.5 percent (13.7 trillion tenge (US$42.47 billion)), a .5-percent drop. At the end of 2016, the asset loan share was 60.7 percent (15.5 trillion tenge (US$48.05 billion)), a 12.4 change.
The share of loan portfolio assets has been decreasing for four consecutive years from its 86.3-percent at the end of 2013.
