OREANDA-NEWS. September 6, 2007. Group Bank TuranAlem JSC has reinforced its footing on the market of banking services in Kazakhstan at the end of the first half of 2007.

Consolidated assets of BTA Group soared by 47% from $16.3 billion as of December 31, 2006 to $24 billion as of July 1, 2007, balance equity capital surged by 94% from $1.53 billion to $2.97 billion.

Net profit of BTA Group in H1 2007 swollen by 70% year-on-year from $194.6 million to $331.8 million and exceeded the net annual revenue of 2006 ($308 million).

Net interest margin made 5.3%, which is 26% more than in 2006 when it was 4.2%.

Return on equity was 33.4% annual.

All in all, BTA Group lent $2,266 million to SMEs in January-June 2007, up by $833 million, making a share of BTA Group on this segment of banking services 22.2% at the end of the reporting half-year compared to 16.4% I early 2007.

Financial services to the retail segment jumped by $1,466 million, which is 60%, to reach $3,929 million.

At the end of the half-year under report, deposits with BTA Group totaled $2,447 million, a growth of 40% or $693 million from January this year.

During the first six months of 2007 BTA Group raised a total of $2.5 billion term loans.

In July-December this year the Group plans to focus on diversification of financing sources through securitization of assets and structuring of transactions.

BTA announces these financial highlights based on its financial statements compiled in line with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

Also speaking at a press conference, Bank’s chief executives announced the VIII Almaty Interbanking Conference due on September 26 and 27. Bank TuranAlem arranges the event.

This year the conference is expected to beat a record by number of participants and guests. Thus, more than 400 speakers from 30 countries plan to assess risks of the banking sector, study problems on the capital markets, discuss competitive advantages of dominant stock exchanges, sift successful models of introduction of Islamic banking worldwide and opportunity of the Islamic banking in Kazakhstan and the CIS countries, to study problems with retail lending and future of united banking systems in the former USSR.

Meanwhile, the leitmotif of the upcoming Almaty Interbanking Conference will be the first session of a steering committee of the Eurasian Club of Bankers (ECB). BTA being a major privately-owned financial institute in the CIS backs up the initiative of President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev to create the Eurasian Club of Bankers.

BTA chief executives believe participants of the financial market in Eurasian countries should enhance their cooperation thus enabling tackling strategic tasks faced by their governments and the integration potential to the full extent. ECB activities will facilitate essential multilateral economic cooperation.

Bank TuranAlem JSC is among biggest banks in the CIS with an extensive banking chain. BTA operating in the CIS and far-abroad countries is expanding into the CIS countries. Activities of its strategic bank partners cover Ukraine, 4 regions in Russia, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey. BTA runs its representative offices in Russia, Ukraine, China and the United Arab Emirates.

In Kazakhstan, BTA’s network consists of 22 branches and 256 cash settlement units.