ADCB Islamic Bank Kazakhstan plans to enter Uzbekistan and AzerbaijanADCB Islamic Bank in Kazakhstan (formerly Al Hilal) plans to expand its business to the Caucasus and Central Asia, namely Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan, Gordon Haskins, Gordon Haskins, CEO of ADCB Islamic Bank Kazakhstan, told News Agency Interfax-Kazakhstan.“We're looking to expand the business actually throughout the region, throughout the Caucasus and Central Asia. So, we're already starting to look at opportunities in some of the other countries in the region,” Haskins said.“Our initial target countries will likely be Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan. And then we'll look opportunistically at other countries in the region,” he added.ADCB Islamic Bank Kazakhstan is working on some deals, according to Haskins.“In fact, we’re probably only a few weeks away from a large deal for one of the national companies here in Kazakhstan. And we’re looking at other ones as well,” he said.ADCB Islamic Bank Kazakhstan recently did an internal reorganization within the ADCB Group and is now solely owned by the parent bank Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank. After the reorganization the bank become more attractive for the clients, and its deposits more than doubled in the nine months to reach 32.6 billion tenge, according to Haskins.“We've been attracting local funding to be able to fund the asset growth that we're focusing on. I think, frankly, with the strategic changes we've introduced and the credit ratings we have in the ADCB Group, there's an attractiveness for local depositors, particularly on the corporate and state-owned company side,” Haskins said.The Group has standalone credit rating at BBB+ in-country here in Kazakhstan, and the parent bank is rated A+, he added.There are 21 second-tier banks operating in Kazakhstan, including two Islamic banks – Zaman Bank and ADCB.ADCB ranked 20th by assets as at October 1, 2024 among the Kazakhstan-based banks, according to the National Bank of the republic. (ICE ALMATY)

Fonte notizia: INTERFAX