About Absolut Bank
The Bank was established by private shareholders in 1993. Our clients are
medium and small enterprises, as well as middle class individuals. Today Absolut
Bank is among Top-25 Russian banks ranked by assets size and now has more than
3500 employees. The Absolut Bank infrastructure includes 72 selling offices
in 24 regions of Russia. The main goal is to increase the Bank’s profitability
and market share. In 2007 Absolut Bank became a part of one of the largest
financial groups in Europe – the KBC Group, which purchased 95% of the bank
equity. 5% is owned by the IFC.
Dynamic growth In 2007 was demonstrated by corporate, retail and investment
banking business. In the reporting period the assets of the Bank according
to AIS reached the level of US$ 5.3 bln., which is two times higher than the
analogous indicator for the year 2007. The bank net profit grew to the level
of US$ 34.5 mln.
Absolut Bank, as an active participant of the corporate finance market, has
practically doubled the credit portfolio for enterprises and organizations.
As of the end of the 2007 this indicator reached US$ 2.7 bln. Absolut
Bank is a leader in the Trade Finance market in the segment of medium-sized
Russian businesses and was awarded by EBRD as Most Active Russian Bank in Trade
Facilitation Program. The Bank’s stable growth in general as well as positive
results in corporate lending and trade finance in particular can be attributed
to a high achievements in International Market.
As a result of the retail customer base extension, the share of retail in
the credit portfolio has increased during the year from 20% to 29%, which is
in full agreement with the plan of the bank development strategy implementation.
The portfolio of loans to individuals increased to the level of US$ 1.1
bln., which is 3 times higher than the results of the previous year.
Financial strength of Absolut Bank is confirmed by its high international
ratings. Absolut Bank is rated by two international rating agencies and has
solid credit assessment by Fitch (on the country level) and Moody’s. In 2004
the Bank was included into the State Deposit Insurance System of Russia. The
total of the deposits of individuals in the accounts with the Bank reached
the level of US$ 0.6 bln., which is 2 times higher than the analogous
indicator as of the beginning of 2007.
The strong risk management system and corporate governance is a basic feature
of all Bank’s transactions. Absolut Bank has implemented a wide range of measures
to achieve the best international performance. The bank was among first companies
in Russia to present transparent shareholders ownership structure and has been
conducting international audit since 2000.
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