May 10 (Noyan Tapan). Armeconombank saw a considerable growth of financial indicators in 2002, which helped the bank both to cover the losses incurred in the previous years and form a sufficient profit for both replenishing its capital and paying out dividends to its stakeholders. This was announced by the bank's Executive Director Ashot Osipian during the annual meeting of Armeconombank shareholders on Saturday.

According to Osipian, during the year in question the bank's assets grew by 40.9% and made 15 bln, 330.2 mln drams ($26.2 mln). It exceeds 1.7 times the growth rate for 2001/2002. According to Osipian, during the same period, the bank's credit investments increased by 37% and reached 6 bln, 794.7 mln drams. 77.4% of the bank's incomes on interest were formed at the expense of these very credit investments.

According to the banker, 48.2% of the credit portfolio falls on the share of corporate entities, 51.8% - on individuals, and outstanding credits in the credit structure make only 0.75%. The bank is engaged in active cooperation particularly with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the German-Armenian Fund. Credits worth 1 bln, 425.5 mln drams and $985,000 were allocated under their crediting programs, respectively. Armeconombank's liabilities increased by 41%. As a major qualitative change, the bank's executive director mentioned the twofold growth of on-call liabilities and the 18% growth of accrued liabilities. The bank's overall capital increased by 9.6% totaling 2 bln, 106.3 mln drams, which was mainly conditioned by the replenishment of the authorized capital with 300 mln drams and a 490 mln dram profit.

The bank allocated a total of 90 mln drams for paying out dividends to its shareholders. Osipian also mentioned that during the year under review, the RA Ministry of Finance and Economy and the RA Central Bank again recognized Armeconombank as the best government agent in internal state debt management. In 2002, the bank's average annual investments in government T-bills increased by 63.4%, or 827 mln drams.

The bank sharply boosted its activity on the securities market, too (in particular, it doubled the number of transactions in US dollars). Osipian also said that 54.7% of the ArCa plastic cards falls on Armeconombank: in the course of 2002, the bank issued 5,600 cards bringing their number to 6,500. This figure is expected to soar to 14,000 by the end of this year. According to Osipian, the bank has so far ensured a profit of 200 mln drams, and it hopes to get a profit of over 700 mln drams (42% more than in 2002) by the end of this year. The bank is also going to engage in active operations related to mortgage and consumer lending.