Greek banks make profit despite no loan volume growth in Q1

Five of the seven Greek-held banks with Romanian operations announced they generated profit in the first quarter of 2010, in the context where the amount of loans granted stagnated. Greek groups at the end of first quarter had a loan portfolio worth almost 14bn euros, close to that of BCR, the biggest Romanian financial group, which in March had loans worth a little above 11bn euros. Total private lending almost equalled 49bn euros in late March, according to NBR data. Against this level, the Greeks account for 28% of the market. Externalised loans included, the market share would be smaller. Four of the seven Greek-held banks concentrate loans worth billions of euros, with their sizes coming into sharp contrast with those of the other three subsidiaries. Alpha Bank has the biggest exposure to Romania in terms of loans granted, with a 4.2bn-euro volume. In the first three months, the amount dropped by 1%, though. The biggest profit was reported by Banca Romaneasca, the Romanian subsidiary of National Bank of Greece group, which gained 12m euros in the first quarter, up 71% from a year ago.