Banca Romaneasca last year registered net income standing at 13 million RON, almost 42% lower than the income derived in 2004. Calculated in euros, the income amounted to 3.6 million euros, about 35% lower. However, the bank''s assets posted considerable growth, by 177%, reaching almost 616 million euros. These figures are, however, merely preliminary. The aggressive, well above average, growth Banca Romaneasca registered allowed it to double its market share, to 1.9%, last October.
The bank''s representatives say profitability was hurt by the high volume of investments made toward yearend, when five new branches were opened, as well as by the increase in provisions following the introduction of central bank norms, given that the bank mainly focuses on retail.
In the first three quarters of last year, the bank generated income worth 3.4 million euros, and therefore the last quarter had a merely marginal contribution to the full-year result.
"The regulations the NBR adopted in September 2005 with a view to keeping a reign on foreign-currency lending led to moves in the sense of a reclassification of the portfolio of loans granted to individuals, and the effect of provision expenses was one of the major factors behind the moderate surge in income seen in December compared with June 2005. Moreover, the rapid growth pace seen by the bank entailed some operating costs," Andreas Maragkoudakis, executive chairman with the bank, told ZIARUL FINANCIAR.
The Greek group National Bank of Greece, the main shareholder, has this month operated a capital increase worth 67.7 million euros. Thus, the share capital owned by Banca Romaneasca reached almost 111 million euros, of which NBG holds 87.14%. The Greeks injected 26 million euros in early 2005, in this way doubling the bank''s capital. As a matter of fact, these capital increases had been expected since the early 2003, when the Greeks purchased the majority stake in the bank.
The group''s officials had hinted as early as the end of last year that they wanted to strengthen their position on the domestic market, being willing to make massive investments to this end. NBG took part in BCR''s privatisation and also joined the race for CEC. Since the CEC privatisation may be delayed, the Greek group is to exclusively focus on its already existing branch. This spring, the group is to decide whether to bring its own brand onto the market, renouncing "Banca Romaneasca" brand. Last year, the Greeks merged the office they operated on the Romanian market with Banca Romaneasca.
This year, the bank intends to open another 20 branches, which would bring its territorial network to 65 branches. In parallel, the bank is going to develop alternative distribution channels, namely Internet-banking and mobile-banking. liviu.chiru@zf.ro
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