Page 93 - SE Outlook Regions 2022

Founded in 1992, Fidesco Group is one of the first and largest retail
supermarket chains in Moldova. Currently, the Fidesco group includes
35 stores in the capital city Chisinau and the country’s biggest cities.

3.6.2 Banks

Moldovan banks, virtually untouched by last year’s crisis, boasted
robust 2% return on assets (ROA) and 12% return on equity (ROE) in
January-September 2021.

In the first three quarters of 2021, the profit of the banking system of
Moldova amounted to MDL1.65bn (€82mn), increasing by 44.1%
compared to the same period of 2020 and nearing the value recorded
in the same period of 2019, MDL1.77bn.

Total assets amounted to MDL113.8bn, 9.6% more than at the end of
2020 (ytd). This resulted in a robust annualised ROA rate of 2.0%
(0.5pp up from 2020) and annualised return on equity of 12%, 3.2pp up
from 2020. Total revenues amounted to MDL6.4bn, 13.9% up y/y. Of
this, interest income accounted for 56.6% and non-interest income
41.4%.

During the first nine months of 2021, the share of non-performing loans
(substandard, doubtful and compromised) in the total portfolio of loans
decreased by 0.6 pp, amounting to 6.8% at the end of September 2021.
The indicator, however, ranges between wide limits, from 2.2% to
12.6%, depending on the bank. At the same time, the stock of
non-performing loans in absolute value increased by 8.1% ytd to
MDL3.6bn.

In January-September 2021, Moldovan banks continued to maintain
liquidity indicators at a high level. Thus, the value of the long-term
liquidity indicator, which is supposed to remain under 1, was 0.76, not
changed from the end of 2020.

Moldova Agroindbank (MAIB), the biggest bank in Moldova with around
30% of the banking system’s total assets, aims to launch an IPO
around 2023-24 in London, Amsterdam, Warsaw or Bucharest.

The bank is 41% controlled by the European Bank for Reconstruction
and Development (EBRD) in partnership with two investment funds.

The bank is already listed on the Moldovan stock exchange, however,
the local bourse lacks liquidity.

Fugitive businessman Veaceslav Platon, one of the bank’s former
owners, has warned that the move would be risky as long as he still
seeks to recover his shares in court.

93 SE Outlook 2022 www.intellinews.com