BCR bet on corporate lending, but retail weighed upon results

BCR, the biggest domestic bank, last year pushed up market share on the corporate segment, to over 25%, but the rapidly deteriorating turnover of the retail unit halved the entire group's annual profit, to 110m euros, and drove the group into the red in the fourth quarter even in line with IFRS.
The corporate unit came to bring 57% of the bank's loan portfolio, up 5.5% from 2009 and 10% from 2008. For the second consecutive year, the corporate loan volume rose by over 15%, on working capital supply and the funding of some state-owned companies.
Until 2008 inclusively, retail weighed more against the corporate segment, but it proved to be the most vulnerable area for BCR amid the crisis.
Besides the fallout related to the rising unemployment rate and salary cuts, the bank was highly exposed to the scandal generated by Ordinance 50.
In 2010, the retail loan portfolio dropped by 7.3% after having declined by almost 7% in 2009.