CHISINAU (Moldova), August 17 (SeeNews) - Moldovan private commercial bank FinComCank said on Tuesday it will raise its equity capital to 53 million Moldovan lei ($4.4 million/3.6 million euro) from 45.2 million lei now, to fund expansion of its branch network.

"The bank's decision to raise the statutory capital is related to the expansion of our branch network in the country planned for this year," Alexandr Bobarikin, chief of FinComBank's marketing department, told SeeNews.

"We plan to open three branches by the end of the year," he added.

At present, the bank has 10 branches in the country, including five in the capital Chisinau. The bank will open a new branch in the northern town of Floresti on August 20. FinComBank also plans to launch three representation offices in the towns of Drochia, Glodeni and in Orhei, situated in the central region of the country.

"We will raise our capital through placing a second share issue of 7.8 million lei this year," Bobarikin said.

FinComBank, established in 1993, is one of Moldova's first commercial banks. In 2002, it became a member of the Rural Finance and Small Enterprises Development programme sponsored by International Fund of Agriculture Development (IFAD).

The bank got a $1.5 million loan from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank's private investment arm, in 2002.

The bank's net profit was 19.9 million lei in 2003, up by 56.8 percent year-on-year.

FinComBank's number of clients rose to 37,900 by the end July from 28,400 in the end of 2003. The bank's deposit portfolio increased to 317.4 million lei in the first half of the year from 279.7 million lei in 2003.

FinComBank's credit portfolio amounted to 350 million lei in the first six months, up from 304.7 million by the end of the last year.

Bank's return on assets (ROA) stood at 5.65 percent and return on equity (ROE) stood at 28.95 percent in the first half of the year.

Moldova, a country of four million people, tucked between Ukraine and Romania, has 16 commercial banks. The largest banks in the country are Moldagroindbank, Banca de economii and Victoriabank.

(1 euro=14.7383 lei)

www.see-news.com