ForteBank Stock Soars on Home Credit Deal, Then Plunges 30% in a Day

Shares of Kazakhstan’s ForteBank surged following the announcement of its acquisition of Home Credit, briefly pushing majority shareholder Bulat Utemuratov to the top of the country’s billionaire rankings — before crashing over 30% in a single trading day, Orda.kz reports.

The rally began on June 27, shortly after the deal was made public.

According to KASE data, Utemuratov holds 90.91% of ForteBank’s shares — over 82.2 billion units. At the start of the rally, shares were trading around 8 tenge each. By early July, they peaked at 44.99 tenge — a more than fivefold increase.

At the height of the spike, Utemuratov’s stake had grown in value from $1.26 billion to $7.08 billion. Factoring in his other holdings, Orda.kz estimated his total net worth at around $9.5 billion, briefly making him the richest person in Kazakhstan.

But on July 11, the rally abruptly reversed. Shares plunged more than 30% to 22 tenge, in what analysts described as a textbook “news spike” followed by panic selling.

The surge lacked solid fundamentals — while the Home Credit deal was positive, analysts warned it did not justify tripling the bank’s valuation. Speculative activity, retail investor frenzy, and rapid profit-taking were all likely contributors.

Rather than a correction, the drop is now being seen as a full-scale bursting of a short-lived market bubble. With over 90% of shares concentrated in one owner and little free float, the stock proved highly sensitive to even modest trading volumes.

On July 11, turnover totaled just 1.15 billion tenge (approx. $2.2 million) — around 0.027% of the bank’s total market cap.

Utemuratov, a longtime figure in Kazakhstan's business and politics, served under former President Nursultan Nazarbayev in roles ranging from presidential aide to ambassador. Beyond ForteBank, his holdings span telecom (Beeline Kazakhstan), hospitality (Ritz-Carlton Almaty and Vienna), retail (Esentai Mall), and education (Haileybury schools). He is also linked to mining interests, including rare earth metals.

In late 2024, Utemuratov’s son, Alidar, sold his stake in ForteBank, consolidating full control under his father.

That same year, Utemuratov transferred his media assets — including Channel 31 and Informburo.kz — to a public foundation.

In May 2025, Forbes ranked him sixth among Kazakhstan’s richest with $3.7 billion. After the stock spike, he briefly overtook Vyascheslav Kim and Timur Turlov. 

Original Author: Ruslan Loginov