Uzbek media outlet Spot has compiled a list of Uzbekistan's domestic banks in terms of their profitability following the release of 3Q results. Its analysis showed that almost all of the financial institutions ended the reporting period in profit.

Most of the banks are state-owned and in fact can be seen more as development organisations than as financial companies. They receive broad support from the state. That makes it difficult to accurately determine their profitability in proper market conditions.

The state holds shares in the top three profitable banks. There is a huge gap in the list between the state-owned banks and private ones.

The profit posted by the top 10 is fivefold that of the other 17 banks.

1. Uzpromstroybank — UZS 787.3bn ($73.3mn);
2. NBU — UZS 676.8bn ($63mn);
3. Ipoteka-bank — UZS 587.7bn ($54.7mn);
4. Trastbank — UZS 323.9bn ($30.7mn);
5. Hamkorbank — UZS 303.6bn ($28.3mn);
6. Ipak Yo'li — UZS 299.9bn (28mn);
7. Qishloq qurilish bank — UZS 272bn ($25.3mn);
8. Kapitalbank — UZS 267.8bn ($24.9mn);
9. Asakabank — UZS 258bn ($24mn);
10. Orient Finance Bank — UZS 213.7bn ($19.9mn);

There were four banks that closed the third quarter with a profit of around UZS 100bn:

1. Agrobank — UZS 102. 8bn ($9.5mn);
2. InfinBANK — UZS 101bn ($9.4mn);
3. Aloqabank — UZS 99.9bn ($9.3mn);
4. Davr-bank — UZS 99bn ($9.2mn).

Ten banks recorded profits ranging from UZS 10bn to UZS 100bn:

1. KDB Bank — UZS 75bn ($6.9mn);
2. Turonbank — UZS 68.7bn ($6.4mn);
3. Xalq Bank — UZS 60bn ($5.6mn);
4. Tenge Bank — UZS 54.7bn ($5.1mn);
5. Asia Alliance Bank — UZS 41bn ($3.8mn);
6. Ziraat Bank Uzbekistan — UZS 18.9bn ($1.7mn);
7. Microcreditbank — UZS 18bn ($1.67mn);
8. Poytaxt Bank — UZS 11bn ($1.02mn).

Five banks earned less than UZS 10bn in the third quarter:

1. Ravnaq-bank — UZS 7.6bn ($707,635);
2. Universal bank — UZS 4.9bn ($456,238);
3. Turkiston — UZS 2bn ($186,219);
4. Madad Invest Bank — UZS 943mn ($87,802mn).
5. Anor Bank — UZS 225mn ($20,949);

Four banks continued to remain unprofitable:

1. Savdogarbank - minus UZS 10.8bn ($1mn);
2. Uzagroexport - minus UZS 16.7bn ($1.5mn);
3. HI-TECH BANK - minus UZS 35.9bn ($3.3mn);
4. TBC Bank - minus UZS 84bn ($7.8mn).

Swiss consulting company Business & Finance Consulting (BFC), together with employees of the Banking Consumer Protection Service of the Central Bank, assessed the quality of services provided by the country's banks.

In many cases, the study revealed customers encountered difficulties even as soon as they got to the entrance of the bank. Only half of the branches visited for the study had an electronic queue, while only one-third of the electronic queue facilities worked.

In some cases, the entrance to the bank was closed.

BFC also assessed conditions created in terms of lending. “A large difference between the maximum and minimum loan rates may indicate that customers do not always have fair access to resources,” it noted.