Tag Archives: technology

Kaspi.kz posts profit rise

APRIL 22 2024 (The Bulletin) — Kaspi.kz, the Kazakh tech company that owns a co-called super-app, posted Q1 profits that were 28% higher than last year. Its shares rose by as much as 6% on the New York Stock Exchange. Floods in north and west Kazakhstan this month have suppressed its share price. Revenue in Q1 was up by 40%. Kaspi.kz listed on the New York Stock Exchange this year.

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— This story was published in issue 565 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on April 23 2024

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2024

Markets: Kazakh Central Bank decides against interest rate cut

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APRIL 16 2024 (The Bulletin) — The Kazakh tenge shifted up by 0.6% after the Kazakh Central Bank decided not to cut interest rates against market expectation. It is now trading at 448.4/$1, recovering from around 476/$1 six months ago.

The Central Bank said that inflation in March measured an annualised 9.1% which was slightly above expectations and that although global grain prices were recovering from the shock of the war in Ukraine, domestic pressures were keeping prices high.

“The domestic economy is still under inflationary pressure due to strong domestic demand and unanchored inflation expectations,” it said. Kazakhstan’s Central Bank targets inflation of 5%.

In equities, analysts said that heavy flooding in north and west Kazakhstan had spooked investors who had sold off stock in Kaspi.kz, the Kazakhstan fintech company which owns a super-app that most Kazakhs use to pay bills, pay taxes and buy consumer products.

It traded down as low as $103 in the past week, having hit a high of $123 after listing on the New York Stock Exchange in January.

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— This story was published in issue 564 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on April 15 2024

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2024

Cryptocurrency producers invest in Kazakhstan

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ALMATY/OCT. 27 2021 (The Bulletin) — Cryptocurrency miners are continuing to invest in Kazakhstan despite a cap on the amount of power they can use after they were blamed for outages.

Taoping Capital, which is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, said that it had set up a subsidiary in Kazakhstan called Kazakh Taoping to produce energy-intensive cryptocurrencies.

In a statement, Taoping Capital said that it will spend $3.2m building a data centre in the next six months.

“Kazakhstan is a growing hub for cryptocurrency mining, we believe the completion and operation of the project will create greater value for our shareholders and clients,” Taoping Capital chairman Jianghuai Lim was quoted as saying.

And here lies the quandary for Kazakh government officials. Since China evicted cryptocurrency producers this year because of their excessive energy use, many have set up in Kazakhstan where electricity is relatively cheap and effectively subsidised by the government. The problem is that while they generate investment, Kazakh officials have also blamed them for excess energy use which they say has crashed the systems.

Kazakhstan’s National Association of Blockchain and Data Centre Industry said that cryptocurrency miners bring in 98b tenge per year, around $1.5b, but the government has also said that a single cryptocurrency production centre uses the same amount of energy as 24,000 homes.

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— This story was published in issue 505 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on Oct. 28 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Internet companies will pay tax in Kazakhstan

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OCT. 27 2021 (The Bulletin) — Internet companies such as Google and Amazon will pay tax in Kazakhstan for the first time from January, Kazakhstan’s government said. There will also be a new tax brought in for cryptocurrency miners. Kazakh businesses have complained this year that the Kazakh tax system fails to tax online companies properly.

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— This story was published in issue 505 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on Oct. 28 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Kaspi.kz posts record profit

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OCT. 25 2021 (The Bulletin) — Kaspi.kz, the Kazakh technology company that owns Kaspi Bank and its super-app that is dominating the Kazakh mobile payments sector, said that its Q3 net income nearly doubled compared to the same period in 2020. Its share price on the London Stock Exchange was up 25% at $117. Kaspi.kz also said that it had bought BTA Bank Ukraine in order to secure a banking licence.

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— This story was published in issue 505 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on Oct. 28 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Tokayev talks up Kaspi.kz

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JUNE 14 2021 (The Bulletin) — Highlighting the importance of London-listed Kaspi.kz as a champion of Kazakh business in the West, Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said that it was a role model for the future of the country’s fintech sector.. Kaspi’s banking app has been a success in pulling in millions of users in Kazakhstan. On the London Stock Exchange its share price has doubled since it listed in October.

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— This story was published in issue 48 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on June 16 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Kaspi.kz posts jump in profits and talks up IPO options

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ALMATY/Feb. 27 2020 (The Bulletin) — — Four months after postponing an IPO on the London Stock Exchange, Kapsi.kz, a Kazakhstan-based banking and technology group, said that income rose to 197b tenge ($525m) in 2019, a 79% rise from 2018.

Kaspi.kz which owns Kapsi Bank, one of the largest high street retail banks in Kazakhstan, postponed its IPO because it said that market conditions were poor, although analysts said that it may have been irked by receiving a poorer market reception than expected.

Kapsi.kz has close links to the Kazakh elite and, until the start of 2019, Kairat Satybaldy, the nephew of Kazakhstan’s former president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, had officially owned the biggest stake in the company.

The company’s other main shareholders are Baring Vostok funds, Goldman Sachs, chairman Vyacheslav Kim and CEO Mikheil Lomtadze.

Reuters quoted sources inside Kaspi.kz saying that the company was once again considering an IPO and quoted Mr Lomtadze as saying: “We continue to monitor market conditions closely in relation to our potential initial public offering.”

In its full-year report, Kaspi.kz said its revenue had increased by 37%.

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— This story was first published in issue 438 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

Kazakhstan signs deal with DP World

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JUNE 16 2017 (The Bulletin) — Dubai’s DP World signed a deal with the Kazakh government to help develop a communication system between, and within, its various ports, a plan aimed at improving efficiency, media reported. No value was put on the deal and its exact specifics are not known but reports said the system is tried and tested and should help free up time and procedures at customs points. Kazakhstan is upgrading its trade infrastructure ahead of an expected increase in trade linked to China’s “One Belt, One Road” strategy.

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(News report from Issue No. 333, published on June 19 2017)

Yandex opens office in Kazakhstan

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APRIL 20 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Yandex, the Russian language search internet search engine, opened its first office in Kazakhstan, another sign of renewed confidence in the region’s economy. The office in Almaty is an effort by the Russian language search engine to boost advertising revenues from Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan is the eighth office that Yandex has set up outside Russia. It said there are 5m hits on its search engine each day from Kazakhstan. Yandex has its own dedicated yandex.kz URL.

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(News report from Issue No. 326, published on April 28 2017)

Armenian Investor’s Club acts

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APRIL 13 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Drawing comparisons with Russia’s oligarch network, the so-called Investors’ Club of Armenia pledged to invest $300m in stimulating business across a range of sectors from tourism to IT to energy. The Investors’ Club is a group of Armenia’s wealthiest businessmen brought together by PM Karen Karapetyan. He set up the group just before an election earlier this month.

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(News report from Issue No. 325, published on April 17 2017)