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Best Bank: Asia Universal |
Founded in 1922, Asia Universal is the biggest bank in Kyrgyzstan by total assets, deposit base, shareholders’ equity, branch network and net profit. It is also the first Kyrgyz bank to obtain an international credit rating, from Moody’s.
The past 12 months, however, have been challenging. The bank’s net income fell by 9.6% in the year to the end of the first quarter of 2009, and its annualized return on equity halved.
Its bottom-line performance can be summed up as a good year for revenues but a bad one for controlling costs. So while the bank’s net operating income went up 70%, its operating costs surged by 159%.