Almaty
On April 28, 2008, Nurbank redeemed eurobonds worth $150 million according to schedule and paid the accrued interest. ING Bank and Dresdner Kleinwort organized this loan.
The redemption was carried out using internal funds without refinancing or using external resources. This redemption accounts for a significant portion of external obligations maturing in 2008, reducing the Bank's total foreign borrowing by 28% to $383 million. Meanwhile, the Bank's assets remained at the level of the beginning of the year, indicating that these resources were replaced by growth in internal funding sources, specifically the Bank's deposit base — in the first quarter of 2008, deposits grew by 75% since the beginning of the year, exceeding 100 billion tenge.
In June, the Bank is expected to make the last international repayment of 2008 — a syndicated loan of $133 million. Nurbank intends to complete this repayment using its own resources without planning refinancing due to unfavorable global financial market conditions.
Consequently, by the end of the first half of 2008, Nurbank will become the first Kazakh bank to fully settle its external obligations for the year. Moreover, the share of external debt in total obligations will decrease to a comfortable level — less than 20%. The remaining external borrowings consist of eurobonds worth $150 million maturing in 2011, and a syndicated loan of $100 million maturing in 2009.
Nurbank's successful handling of external debt demonstrates its stability and reliability, as well as growing confidence from clients and investors. Furthermore, by meeting its external obligations, Nurbank reaffirms the resilience of Kazakhstan's banking sector and its ability to adapt to uncertainty in global financial markets. JSC "Nurbank" ranks among the top ten largest banks in Kazakhstan. According to the Bank's unaudited IFRS consolidated financial statements as of April 1, 2008, the Bank's assets amounted to 235.8 billion tenge, an increase of 19% since the beginning of the year. Client deposits at the beginning of April reached 103.8 billion tenge, accounting for over 50% of liabilities.