The former Amanbank has finally turned a profit after a long time and has decided to pay dividends

The successor to the former Amanbank—Abiyir Finance MFK OJSC—reported results for 2025 that the company had not achieved in recent years while operating as a bank: net profit and dividends to shareholders. Judging by the financial results, the former bank is currently performing significantly better as a microcredit company than it did as a commercial bank.

At the annual shareholders’ meeting on April 28, the company approved a net profit of 35.46 million KGS for 2025. Of this amount, nearly 31.9 million KGS will be used to cover accumulated losses from previous years, and another 3.54 million KGS will be used to pay dividends.

While operating as “Amanbank,” the company was among the weakest players in the sector. For instance, at the end of 2022, the bank was the only commercial bank in the country to report a loss, which amounted to 11 million KGS. Even then, this stood in stark contrast to the record earnings of the banking sector.

In 2023, the situation continued to deteriorate. For January–November, the bank remained unprofitable again—a loss of 42.85 million KGS, while most of the country’s banks recorded record profits from foreign exchange and commission-based operations.

As a result, in January 2024, the company announced a reorganization, and in the summer of that year, Amanbank finally relinquished its banking license and was transformed into a microfinance company—first as OJSC “MFC Aman Credit,” and later, following the merger with Abiyir LLC, the entity was renamed “Abiyir Finance.”

The reasons for the reorganization were not disclosed, but the market linked the decision to the National Bank’s tightening of minimum capital requirements for banks. While the threshold was 800 million KGS in 2024, by 2026 the requirements had already risen to 1 billion KGS.

The improvement in financial performance was not due to a sharp increase in revenue, but primarily to a reduction in expenses. As recently as the end of 2024, the company remained unprofitable, though the size of its losses had decreased by nearly four times compared to the banking period.

Now, the former bank has not only turned a profit but has also begun paying dividends to shareholders—4.3814 KGS per common share.

At the same time, the company is changing its business model. Shareholders have approved a strategy to implement Islamic financing principles through a so-called “Islamic window.” To this end, the articles of association and internal regulations will be amended, and a Sharia Council will be established.