Turkish investment bank Pasha plans to double size on Azeri link

Cenk Eynehan, chief executive officer of Pasha Yatirim Bankasi AS, as the lender was renamed after its acquisition last

year by Baku-based Pasha Bank JSC, told reporters in Istanbul on Tuesday that he intends to increase the company’s loan book to 810 million liras ($274 million) by the end of next year, compared with 373 million liras at end of 2015.

Pasha plans to increase lending volumes by offering services to businesses seeking to invest across Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia, where the company also owns a bank, the CEO said. After buying into Turkey to benefit from regional business ties, the company needs to overcome a decline in trading with neighboring Azerbaijan of almost a third during 2015, despite large-scale infrastructure projects like the $11 billion Trans-Anatolia natural gas pipeline. 

The turmoil has extended into this year with Moody’s Investors Services downgrading Azerbaijan to junk due to lower oil prices.

Companies in Turkey will view the instability as an "opportunity,” Eynehan said in an interview. Despite two devaluations by Azerbaijan, which cemented the manat’s status as the world’s worst-performing currency last year, the bank increased credit volumes more than five-fold since acquiring a controlling stake from Turkey’s Aksoy Holding AS, he said.