2019 Contents
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ANNUAL REPORT 2019 Contents Message from the CEO 4 1 About ABA 8 Who We Are 10 2 Vision, Mission, Values 11 Financial Highlights 12 Simplified Financial Results 13 General Information 14 Milestones 16 Organization Chart 18 Board of Directors 20 Branch Network 22 Our Accomplishments 24 Customer Onboarding and Service Development 25 ABA Mobile App Enhancement 25 3 PayWay Platform Expansion 26 IT & Cybersecurity 26 International Operations and Trade Finance Growth 27 Risk Management Improvements 27 Internal Audit Standards 28 Compliance Development 28 HR & Training Management 29 Corporate Social Responsibility 29 Audited Financial Statements 30 Corporate Information 31 4 Report of the Board of Directors 32 Independent Auditor’s Report 36 Statement of Financial Position 39 Statement of Profit or Loss and Other Comprehensive Income 40 Statement of Changes in Equity 41 Statement of Cash Flows 42 Notes to the Financial Statements 44 1 Message from the CEO It gives me pleasure to deliver you the results ABA’s solid performance of ABA Bank performance in 2019. It was another solid year filled with milestones and in 2019 reflects our significant achievements that positively changed the Cambodian financial sector. ABA has adherence to the long- demonstrated strong growth in all main areas, including total assets, deposits and loans, as term business strategy well as the customer base. of constant development ABA successfully continues to implement its business strategy with the focus on modern of modern digital finance digital finance products and services as well as on productive loans to businesses in real solutions and hard work sectors of the economy. The Bank executes strong risk management strengthened by audit of our staff in supporting and compliance functions across its businesses. valued customers. ABA Bank Annual Report 2019 5 MAJOR MILESTONES Let me briefly highlight the most significant To achieve that, ABA Mobile was significantly of Coral and Temenos software solutions. achievements ABA experienced in 2019. enhanced, and several new useful features were Here, the Compliance Division and IT Division introduced. We launched international SWIFT demonstrated a high level of commitment, I start with National Bank of Canada acquiring money transfers and DBP transfers, introduced collaboration, and agility to deliver exceptional the remaining 10% stake in ABA Bank. As a Savings Accounts, Fixed Accounts, and E-Cash value for the Bank. result of this additional investment, its ownership service in Khmer Riels to support the use of the in ABA increased to nearly 100%. The final local currency. We also enhanced our QR-code In the corporate segment, ABA became a transaction displayed the highest level of cashless payment, ABA PAY, by enabling static frontrunner by launching a dedicated Business confidence in ABA Bank and the Cambodian QR payments, and added new merchants in the Banking Center to provide quality banking financial sector. This capital injection helps us Payments section. services to the growing SME segment, large boost geographical expansion and introduce companies, and multinational and emerging best-in-class products to a broader clientele. Hence, our customers enjoy greater flexibility local corporations. and comfort in managing their finances with Our branch network has expanded by getting ABA Mobile. With the help of professional business advisors 11 new branches, with nine of them on the as well as comprehensive business banking provincial/district level. Of course, we continued PayWay, our successful e-commerce platform, solutions we provide, many large companies to renovate and expand our existing premises gained more popularity in the market thanks like Coca-Cola Cambodia and Honda Cambodia where the traffic has increased and where we to its seamless integration, convenience, and choose ABA as their primary banking partner. needed more space and self-banking facilities extensive support. PayWay now helps hundreds to keep serving our valued customers with of businesses to enhance their online sales and In August, we successfully issued Corporate the highest level of service. Here, six existing boost revenue. Bonds for the total amount of around USD 21 branches received extended working hours and million and listed it on Cambodia Securities joined the list of the other seven offices working What is more, state agencies and public service Exchange. Here, ABA again demonstrated its seven days a week and 12 hours a day. providers also trust this service: PayWay is now pioneer spirit, because ABA Bond became the used to pay for Cambodian eVisa, to purchase first corporate bond available for retail investors At the same time, our expansion was not limited e-tickets to magnificent Angkor Wat, and is in addition to corporates. It also became the first to the branches, as we created a more extensive expected to be utilized by Security Exchange offer of debt securities from a commercial bank network of our services by partnering with Commission of Cambodia and the Ministry of in the country and the first Cambodian bond with TrueMoney, leading payment service provider Land Management. It is our distinct contribution the international rating from S&P. with the largest agent network in Cambodia. to the transformation of Cambodia towards a cashless society. We truly believe that ABA Bond issuance is Under this partnership, the loan repayment important for the Cambodian capital market becomes more comfortable for our borrowers These efforts were highly praised by Asia development and will bring even more trust in who live or work closer to a TrueMoney Marketing magazine, who awarded PayWay this sector. agent than to the ABA branch. Additionally, with the “Best eCommerce brand” and the our customers can transfer money between “Best eCommerce platform in Cambodia” titles Our international recognition this year goes TrueMoney and ABA using mobile applications in November. far beyond the two awards mentioned earlier, anytime and from anywhere. as The Banker, Euromoney, and Global Finance At the same time, our customers still need magazines named ABA the “Best Bank in Now, let’s see what we achieved in the cash for everyday transactions, which means Cambodia 2019”! This full acknowledgment of digitalization of our services. Here, we continue that we need to keep our self-banking facilities our excellence is based on the strategic focus bringing innovative solutions and reliable self- modern and up-to-date. This year, we reinforced on technologies, robust growth, and innovation banking facilities to customers to make their life our branches with more ATMs and Cash-in in digital banking and eCommerce. easier. Machines. We also launched a new facility – Cash Recycling Machine that allows to deposit There is another significant milestone in the Our flagship product in the retail segment, the and withdraw money. The number of such international appraisal of ABA. In December, S&P ABA Mobile application, has grown in terms of its facilities will only grow with the plan to build Global Ratings Agency upgraded our long-term user base to 551,000 at the end of 2019 compared modern self-banking spots in high-traffic areas. credit rating to “B+” from “B”. The researchers to just 241,000 a year before. We also see that noted as the competitive advantage ABA's digital our customers use the app actively: in a year, ABA also has made significant steps in platform and management capabilities supported the number of transactions has increased more enhancing its anti-money laundering and by oversight from National Bank of Canada. than three-fold. sanction programs via the implementation ABA Bank 6 Annual Report 2019 FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS Our financial performance in 2019 is remarkable “Everything but Arms” (EBA) agreement coupled as we continued to show strong growth in all with the outbreak of Coronavirus disease, overall main areas: economic slowdown, and adverse weather conditions may impact the business activity ■ Total assets grew 60% compared to the of our customers. Therefore, we will dedicate end of 2018 and reached USD 4.4 billion. more efforts to the balanced growth of our loan portfolio in line with prudent risk appetite ■ We increased our deposit portfolio by 55%, as we continue to support local MSMEs and and it equaled USD 3.4 billion at the end of entrepreneurs, contributing to their development. 2019. All in all, we are set to use the opportunities ■ Our loan portfolio reached USD 2.8 billion, our current successes open for us, and we are representing 51% growth from 2018. confident that ABA is well-positioned to bring further value to the stakeholders. ■ The net profit for the year reached $127.41 million, that is 72% higher than a year ago. In conclusion, I wish to thank the management team of ABA for shaping our future and more ■ The number of accounts of valued than 6,000 employees for their hard work to customers almost doubled within the year achieve it. I also sincerely thank our shareholders and reached 829,000 compared to just for their confidence in our strategy and full 426,000 we had in 2018. support for our development. ■ This rapid development is rested upon the Ultimately, I thank all the customers for their trust 55% growth of our equity to USD 496 in ABA and contribution to our development. million as of 2019 end. At the same time, ABA still has the best ROAE in the market of 31.3%, which makes us the most effective Bank in the sector. These results became possible thanks to the continuous dedication of our staff, coupled with the prudent risk approach and elaborate strategy. Askhat Azhikhanov Chief Executive Officer AS WE MOVE INTO 2020 ABA is securely settled to continue its exciting journey. The Bank experiences sound growth with good credit quality and healthy capital ratios. In 2020, we will intensify our work on delivering reliable and unique digital solutions.