Garanti Bank: We hit 2009 growth targets as early as July

Garanti Bank has posted 30% growth on the lending segment since the beginning of the year, thus reaching a volume of 460m euros, as the pace at which it attracted new customers hit 10,000 per month.
Garanti Bank, the domestic subsidiary of one of the biggest Turkish financial groups, but with a still low presence in Romania, upwardly revised its plan for 2009, after having reached set targets as early as July amid the low competition on the lending segment.
"For the lending segment, we had planned 25% growth, but we revised it to 40%. We carried out lending campaigns all year long and we were among the first to cut interest rates. In spring, we were the only ones promoting loans, but now competition is starting to pick up", says Murat Atay, who in early 2009 took the reins of the Romanian subsidiary of Garanti group.
The bank's loan portfolio climbed from 350m euros in December to 460m euros at present, a 31% increase.
"Financing banks receive from their foreign shareholders has dwindled. But our group has access to cash from Turkey and we were able to support our growth here," Atay states.
Lending growth was mainly sustained by the retail segment.
"We've come to attract around 10,000 new clients each month, most as individuals or small and medium-sized firms. We're receiving many applications from clients to refinance their debts with other banks, but we're analysing them very carefully," Atay says.
He states the management of the Turkish group started taking measures as early as the beginning of 2008 to protect itself from the crisis, so that its liquidity is now comfortable, and the weight of bad loans very low. Still, he chose not to specify the weight of bad loans domestically.
The bank's client portfolio has reached 120,000, from 40,000 in December 2008. The rising number of clients has also brought a deposit doubling, to 200m euros.
Turnover growth was also supported by the opening of five new branches this year, with their total number reaching 50. Another branch will become operational by yearend.
" (...) We maintain our plan of making profit in less than two years," Atay says.
Garanti is about to receive a banking licence from the NBR, to operate as a domestic bank, but this will not bring changes in its development strategy, Murat Atay says.