ABA’s Mao Tse Tung branch in Phnom Penh's Chamkar Mon district. Heng Chivoan
Advanced Bank of Asia Ltd (ABA) reported positive growth rates of loan portfolio and deposits in the second quarter of this year which “reflect the bank’s strategy effectiveness and strong position in the financial sector”, despite the economic uncertainty stemming from the prolonged Covid-19 crisis and turmoil in Ukraine.
Chairman Yves Jacquot revealed in ABA’s second-quarter financial report that 11,534 loans worth $513.3 million were disbursed from April to June, bringing the bank’s gross loan portfolio up by six per cent to $6.1 billion. Deposits rose by nine per cent in the January-June period to $6.9 billion at June 30.
He said the customer base grew by 21 per cent in the first six months of 2022 as ABA accounts reached 2.5 million as of June 30.
“Cambodia continued its recovery from the Covid situation during the reporting period. At the same time, the country witnessed a slower than expected return of foreign direct investments and experienced inflationary pressure that affected household purchasing power.
“The real estate sector remains under pressure, and tourism has yet to recover to its pre-pandemic levels. Additionally, we begin to see the impact of the Russia-Ukraine crisis on the world economy and its potential repercussions on every country.
“Despite these general economic uncertainties, ABA Bank, with its solid financial fundamentals, remains a safe and stable institution on its upward trajectory. The continuous growth of the customer base and sound financial performance reflects the bank’s strategy effectiveness and strong position in the financial sector.
“These results rest primarily upon the bank’s leverage on its state-of-art digital banking and self-banking platforms. The bank continued improving its ABA Mobile banking application by bringing new convenient services and features.
“Among them is the Salary Loan feature to facilitate those requiring immediate cash and further development of the ABA KHQR service to enable merchants to collect cashless payments from ABA Mobile users and customers of all other banks-members of Project Bakong,” Jacquot said.
He noted that ABA is a participant of the SME Co-Financing Schemes (SCFS), government initiatives that aims to provide affordable loans to SMEs, or small- and medium-sized enterprises. The first phase of the project was launched in April 2020.
He revealed that active loans disbursed by ABA under SCFS stood at $9.6 million at June 30, and that the bank provided loans for capital expenditure and working capital with annual interest rates no higher than 7.50 per cent, and a repayment term of up to seven years.
