The total revenues of ING Bank Romania increased 15% last year, to 305 million RON (86.5 million euros), while the bank's assets surged by 6.5%, to 7.22 billion RON. The bank had posted 68 million RON gross profit in 2005, whilst the figure for 2006 saw the gross profit almost halved to 35 million RON, the bank said yesterday. The decline in comparison to last year's results was prompted by investments in the expansion of the bank's network, both for retail and for corporate banking, and is also linked to company spending on development, the bank's general manager, Misu Negritoiu (photo), told a press conference. He additionally commented that profit could continue to witness a decline this year due to investments. "Given the development we have scheduled for this year and the generated costs, we may see a further decline in profit," said Negritoiu. As regards the market share, the ING manager estimates the bank will claim around 4% to 5% of the market for the next few years. ING's credit portfolio increased 38% last year, while deposits fell by 24%. "Regarding credits, retail rose by 190%. The quality of our credit portfolio is extremely good, with risk costs standing at 0.9%," added Negritoiu. After Romania's integration into the European Union, ING came under the supervision of the Dutch central bank. The only regulations of the National Bank of Romania that ING needs to comply with concern the minimum compulsory reserves and the cash ratio, explained Negritoiu.
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