Freedom Bank reports capital increase

Freedom Bank has placed an additional common stock worth roughly $39 million / Photo: Shutterstock, photo editor: Aidaraliyeva Aliya

Freedom Holding Corp. has increased the capital of its subsidiary Freedom Bank by 20 billion tenge (approximately $38.66 million), according to a notification to the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE). The financial organization plans to allocate the funds for further development of its digital products and the Freedom ecosystem.

To raise necessary funds, Freedom Bank issued 3.4 million shares each priced at $11.41, which were acquired by the sole stakeholder of the organization. Thus, by expanding its own capital to roughly $375.07 million, Freedom Bank has been propelled from 11th to 9th place among 21 financial organizations based on its own capital parameter.

Freedom Bank’s chair Aidos Zhumagulov stated that the stakeholder sees significant opportunities in the development of the bank’s infrastructure. He added that, alongside the increase in clients at Freedom Broker, the bank had struggled to keep pace with its growth.

«We currently see organic market increments, and we are ready to scale up. Next year, the holding companies will establish maximum synergy. Business growth goes hand in hand with increased capital, making this a great opportunity to realize our full potential,» Zhumagulov said.

He noted that Freedom Bank currently offers a variety of digital products, including mortgages and payment cards, business and car loans. Additionally, the bank participates in Kazakhstan’s National Bank program aimed at investing Unified Accumulative Pension Fund assets in the banks’ bonds.

Zhumagulov added that with a potential future reduction in the base rate, credit funds would become more accessible for small and medium-sized businesses. In this scenario, «the bank will be ready to handle hundreds of thousands of requests from companies online,» he emphasized.

Last summer, Freedom Bank increased its authorized capital by 20 billion tenge (approximately $43.85 million, based on the average exchange rate in 2023). In September, the capital was further increased by approximately $9.66 million.

Freedom Bank is a part of Freedom Holding Corp., headquartered in Almaty and led by prominent Kazakhstani businessman Timur Turlov. The holding’s subsidiaries and branch offices operate in 20 countries, including Kazakhstan, the U.S., Cyprus, Poland, Spain, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan. Currently, the holding’s common stocks are traded on the Nasdaq Capital Market, KASE and the Astana International Exchange (AIX).