ACLEDA Bank eyes strong deposits, loans
ACLEDA Bank eyes strong deposits, loans
ACLEDA Bank Lao Ltd has reported loans and deposit accounts are ahead of expectations for the first six months of this year and they may exceed this year's target.
Bank Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Mr Narin Phon, said yesterday the bank had planned to disburse loans of about 897 billion kip (US$115 million) by the end of the year.
“So far we have already loaned about 640 billion kip (US$82 million) to about 15,000 customers,” he said. For deposit accounts, the bank had targeted about 663 billion kip (US$85 million), and has already reached 515 billion kip (US$66 million) with about 28,000 accounts, according to the bank.
Mr Narin said he believed loans and deposit accounts may exceed this year's targets, however he could not say by how much.
“We have to wait and see further loans and deposit accounts over the next few months, and then we will know how much the excess will be,” he said.
Mr Narin said most of the bank's customers were family-run small to medium d businesses, and most operate outside the city in rural areas.
Recently the bank reported its loans and deposits exceeded initial expectations for 2012.
Its plan was to provide loans worth about 456 billion kip (US$57 million) and for deposits to reach about 368 billion kip (US$46 million); loans reached about 532 billion kip (US$66.5 million) by the end of 2012 while deposits rose to about 420 billion kip (US$52.5 million).
The bank now has 724 employees working at 34 branches in Vientiane and the provinces, and it plans to increase to 894 staff by the end of this year.
“We also plan to open two additional offices in the provinces of Oudomxay and Luang Namtha by the end of this year,” Mr Narin said. The Oudomxay office is currently under construction and is expected to open in S eptember.
ACLEDA opened for business in July 2008 and was the first Cambodia-based commercial bank to operate in Laos.
Its shareholders comprise ACLEDA Bank Plc, the International Finance Corporation (operated by World Bank Group) and Triodos-Doen and Triodos Fair Share Fund, the Netherlands' development finance company.
vientiane times
