Net profits of 23-24 million euros and total assets of approximately 900 million euros - these are the objectives Banca Tiriac hopes to achieve by the end of this year.
After the first three quarters of the year, the bank posted 16.5 million euros in net profits, almost as much as it made in the whole of 2004.
The bank''s net assets came to just over 3bn RON (842 million euros) at the end of September, an increase of 22% in RON compared with December last year.
"We have now overshot the 850 million euro asset mark and want to reach 900 million euros by the end of the year. Our net profit will reach 23-24 million euros by the end of the year," Selcuk Saldirak, Banca Tiriac''s chairman, said.
Banca Tiriac has been slower to grow than the market, being left behind by Banca Transilvania in the rankings of lending institutions. The bank''s officials have repeatedly said that their main goal is to achieve growth while still maintaining profitability. Return on equity (ROE) at the end of the year will exceed 20%, Saldirak says.
Banca Tiriac yesterday opened a new branch in Bucharest and a branch in Arad, located within the new Metro store, bringing its branch network to 65 units.
"We will open five or six more branches by the end of the year," Saldirak added. At least two of them will be located in the capital, due to the high economic potential there, though the new branches will be located in areas with a weaker banking presence. In fact, most banks are working on bold expansion plans and are now approaching areas that had previously been uninteresting to them due to their lower economic potential. The increase in competition, which sometimes translates into branches of competitor banks being placed side by side on the main streets of major cities, is driving players to enter less saturated areas. Developing its branch network is important for Banca Tiriac, whose operations are focused on the retail segment, where territorial presence is an important factor for success.
Banca Tiriac is currently engaged in a merger process with HVB Bank Romania, the local branch of what is Germany''s second largest financial group.
The chairmen of the two banks say the process will probably be completed at the end of the first quarter next year. The new entity, HVB Tiriac, will be controlled by Bank Austria Creditanstalt - HVB Romania''s majority shareholder - and will have assets worth over 2.5bn euros and a market share of 8%.
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