Growth in all directions
ForteBank summed up the results of its work for 2023. According to the consolidated IFRS financial statements, the bank has improved its financial performance due to an effective business model and a balanced approach to lending. According to the results of last year, ForteBank’s assets increased by 16.6%, or by 464 billion tenge, and amounted to almost 3.3 trillion tenge.
Affordable loans to businesses and the public
The bank’s loan portfolio amounted to 1.4 trillion tenge, which is 17.4%, or 204 billion tenge more than in 2022. According to this indicator, the bank has moved up from sixth to fifth place in the list of largest creditor banks. The growth is explained by the increase in lending to all segments. ForteBank’s business loan portfolio has increased by 17%: loans to small and medium businesses have increased by 21%, or by 72.7 billion tenge, that is, to 417 billion tenge, loans to corporate customers – by 13.3%, or 51 billion tenge, that is, to 433.3 billion tenge, retail customers – by 19%, or 82 billion tenge tenge, that is, to 510 billion tenge.
“In 2023, the bank demonstrated qualitative growth. We continued to boost the volume of lending to Kazakhstani businesses. At the same time, business loans, including SMEs, account for 62% in our loan portfolio. This indicates that Forte is one of the main commercial institutions for financing Kazakhstani entrepreneurs. To remain competitive and interesting for business, banks have to use non-standard approaches. That is why we digitized most of the financial transactions for SMEs, zeroed commissions on tenge payments, which led to an increase in the number of customers by almost a quarter. In working with corporate clients, we remain a financial partner who can offer flexible terms and high quality of service,” said Bekzhan Pirmatov, CEO of ForteBank. Thanks to an increase in interest income due to a significant growth in the loan portfolio last year, the bank’s net profit increased by 18.7% compared to 2022 and amounted to 116 billion tenge. Besides, the net interest income increased by 50.3%, or 65 billion tenge, replacing unstable one-time net income from foreign exchange transactions, which was caused by volatility in the foreign exchange market in 2022.
