KBC Group of Belgium, which specialises in banking, insurance and asset management services, is entering the race for BCR in the full knowledge that the price will be a very important criterion in picking a winner. They are ready to take on the competition, and believe their experience in Central and Eastern Europe over the last ten years (where they have five banks), will count in their favour, said Marko Voljc, KBC''s CEE general manager, on Tuesday.
"Strategy and expertise are important, not just the price offered. What happened in Central Europe will also happen in Romania and we already know how things will develop," he explained.
The KBC official said it was the group''s aim to hold the controlling interests in major banks that operate as universal banks and at the same time have the capacity to develop insurance products. "We believe BCR meets our strategic criteria perfectly: through its position on the market, the strong franchise, and the progress already made in developing retail operations," he said.
KBC is a medium-sized financial group, whose assets were worth 296bn euros at the end of the first quarter of 2005. Of this, its banking assets in Central and Eastern Europe amount to over 30bn, making it the leader for the region. KBC is listed on the markets of Brussels (Euronext) and Luxembourg, and its market capitalisation stands at around 24bn euros. Its net income exceeded 1.7bn euros last year, an increase of 57% on 2003.
The point the group likes to boast about most is its expertise in both the banking and insurance sectors, which allows it to boost its market shares by cross-selling integrated, banking, asset management and insurance products to the same customer base. razvan.voican@zf.ro
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