PWC completed audit of Bank Standard

According to the International Financial Reporting Standards, the bank's net profit was AZN 4.6mln in 2006, 2.5mln or 119% higher than the same period last year.

The auditor will re-examine the bank's profit or 2005.
Pricewaterhousecoopers added AZN 0.5mln to the amount it had calculated to be AZN 1.6mln.

According to the audit report, the group's net profit for 2006 was 7.5mln with a 60% year-on-year rise.

Bank Standard earned AZN 4.3mln in commission with a 79% year-over-year increase.

As of December 30, 2006, the bank's overall capital reached AZN 26.7mln, 73% higher from a year earlier, pushed up by 50% rise in the authorized capital to AZN 15mln.

The term deposits and checking accounts tripled to AZN 147.8mln and according to the IFRS, the bank’s loan portfolio also trebled to AZN 137mln.

The group's assets more than doubled to AZN 246.6mln.

Bank Standard, with its better-than-expected performance, exceeded the general growth rate of Azerbaijan's banking sector.

/APA/