Best bank: Bank ABB
Prospects for the Azerbaijani banking sector continue to improve as bank balance sheets strengthen and tighter regulatory oversight is established. Nowhere is this more evident than at Bank ABB – International Bank of Azerbaijan – which has made good progress since the decisive resolution of its legacy risks in 2022.
AfE 2024
The bank is 96% state owned and accounted for 26% of sector assets and 20% of sector loans in mid 2023. In May this year, chairman of the board of directors Abbas Ibrahimov announced plans for a public listing: the bank is one of several state enterprises targeted by the government to attract private investment. Its shares currently offer a dividend yield of 15.1%
Asset quality and profitability are more resilient than domestic peers, the number of which has halved during the regulatory clean-up of the banking sector over the past decade.