Best bank: SQB
Benefiting from robust economic growth in the country, Uzbekistan’s banking sector continued its rapid expansion last year and one bank led the pack, SQB, the country’s second largest lender.
Led by Aziz Akbarjonov, chairman of the management board, the bank has gone through a substantial transformation in recent years and 2023 marked another year of progress and strong financial performance.
SQB reported profit for the year to the end of December 2023 of Som856 billion ($67.7 million) – up by more than 30% on 2022 – on interest income of Som7 trillion, a year-on-year increase of 43%.
High interest rates together with loan growth drove the performance, with loans and advances to customers jumping Som10 trillion to Som58 trillion by the end of last year, helping to swell total assets to around Som73 trillion.
One powerful engine of this growth was SQB’s retail business, which attracted about 1.5 million new clients last year, boosting revenues by Som579 billion and its deposit base by Som308 billion.
Overall, return on equity hit 10.5% with return on assets at 1.5%.
Such strong performance will be attractive to potential strategic investors. SQB is in the process of soliciting interest to sell over 50% of the bank. This follows the passing of a presidential decree last year that gave the greenlight to the privatization.
Best digital bank: Asakabank
Asakabank has adopted technological partnerships with international players to improve its services. It has partnered with Mastercard to introduce the MoneySend money transfer service, which allows users to send money across Mastercard’s network. It has also integrated Wings’ cloud-based loans decision-making platform to enhance the efficiency and speed of loan approvals.
The bank also implemented face identification technology to improve customer identification processes for micro-loans and car loans.
The development of the ANET portal has improved operational efficiency. The system supports electronic document approval using digital signatures to reduce paper waste.
Best bank for SMEs: Asia Alliance Bank
Asia Alliance Bank has a 70% market share of small and medium-sized enterprise customers in Uzbekistan and lent $301 million to the segment in 2023.
The bank has strategically shifted to a unified inter-branch model solely dedicated to enhancing services for SMEs. This reorganization has achieved a reduction in administrative costs and improved efficiency in its commercial banking operations.
Best bank for ESG: SQB
SQB provided funding for environmental projects and green initiatives last year, alongside the integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles into its corporate strategy.
The bank lent $212 million to 125 separate green projects, which have prevented 88,242 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent emissions annually, saved 151,247 megawatt hours of energy and generated 42,726 mWh of renewable electricity.
The bank also issued a $100 million green bond arranged by Societe Generale CIB. The deal was bought by the International Finance Corporation, the Austrian Development Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the German development finance institution, DEG.
SQB has made meaningful steps to integrate ESG considerations into its core corporate strategy. This has included the creation of a dedicated ESG division in the green banking business.
It has introduced a range of sustainable products including a green deposit and a green card – both market firsts in Uzbekistan. The bank also launched a project to certify its buildings according to the EDGE certification system.
Best bank for corporates: SQB
SQB saw impressive corporate client growth and product expansion last year.
The bank achieved a 39% increase in revenue, largely driven by growth in corporate banking. The number of corporate customers increased to 1,491, which includes 57 large corporates with a turnover of more than $15 million.
The lender’s credit portfolio grew by 22% to Som40.4 trillion ($3.2 billion). Its non-performing loan ratio fell to 2.3%, following concerted efforts to improve the quality of the portfolio and collection processes.
SQB also expanded its range of corporate services with the introduction of 42 new products.
