Azerbaijan-based PASHA Bank to enter SME market


PASHA Bank Board Member and General Manager H. Cenk Eynehan said they have set the target of becoming a "focused bank" in the new-strategy period covering 2018-2020, and they will provide financing to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through "capital investment" in this context, according to the Dünya daily.

The Azerbaijan-based PASHA Bank, which started operating in Turkey two years ago, has established a medium-term action plan. The bank, which will focus on commercial and institutional loans this year, will also carry out the strategy of focused banking in the new strategy period covering 2018-2020. This will be based on providing finance for SMEs.

PASHA Bank, which operates in the fields of corporate, commercial and investment banking and aims to be a bridge between Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia, foresees that it closed 2016 with an asset size of TL 500 million ($138 million), a cash and non-cash loan size of TL 600 million and a profitability of around TL 14 million. The bank aims to reach an asset size of TL 650 million by the end of 2017.

PASHA Bank Board Member and General Manager H. Cenk Eynehan said they will plan the next three years of the bank in the new year and will determine resources and investment areas in this period. Pointing out that the 2015-2017 period has mainly been driven by the strategy of corporate companies supporting the trade in the region, Eynehan said, "We have different segments in mind."Eynehan stated that by focusing on credit and equity transfer, they intend to provide services to SMEs under the scope of commercial loans.

Suggesting that they will focus on what they can do to exist in world investment banking, Eynehan said individual banking is an area on its own, which needs to be well assessed. "We will shape this decision this year. Investment banking is in our sight, and we are considering entering the SME market," Eynehan said, underlining that there are plenty of needs in the bottom segment.