While banking giants are closing down their outlets and toil in the harsh environment to keep their assets intact, GarantiBank is set to expand its reach in Romania with new outlets on the pipeline, and increase assets by 50% to around €1.2 billion. Murat Atay, chief executive of Garantibank Romania told Wall-Street in an interview how he plans to add value to the business, amid recessionary times.
Target: 50 new outlets in 2 years
GarantiBank’s expansion strategy in Romania envisages the opening of another 50 new units over the next two years, in a time when its peers do the exact opposite.
“We will open new branches, and our plan for the next two years involves the opening of 50 new units. The initial plan for this year envisaged the addition of only 6 units, but we decided to set our sights higher”, said Murat Atay (photo), chief executive of GarantiBank Romania.
GarantiBank Romania has increased its assets by 84% in 2009 to €830 million, following 50% year-on-year growth in loan book.
For this year, the bank aims at increasing its asset portfolio by 50% to €1.2 billion coupled with 40% boost in deposit and loan book.
“2010 will be a very challenging year, but compared to last year, I am more optimistic. If in 2009, Romania had an economic contraction of 7%, this year, the GDP is expected to return in the positive territory with 1% growth. And even with an economic contraction of 7%, we increased our loan book by more than 50%. And this makes us more confident in our ability to achieve our goals”, GarantiBank CEO, pointed out.
The bank’s total value of deposits and loans jumped €200 million in 2009. At the end of 2009, GarantiBank had €550 million loan book under management and deposits of more than €210 million.
Also included in the bank’s plans for 2010 is a diversification of its loan offer.
“Romanians can still take out loans. If we look at the amounts borrowed and the Gross Domestic Product, there is still room for growth in the lending arena”, Murat Atay continued. “I believe that at the end of second quarter this year, we may see the economy and consumption picking up”.
The bank plans to boost its loan book by 40%, which would translate into a total of €770 million loans at the end of 2010, from €550 million at the end of 2009.
“Sooner or later, the country will climb out of recession, and we’re moving towards that point, and this makes us more confident in building our growth-focused strategy”, says Atay.
Article comments "Interview with M. Atay, GarantiBank CEO: We’re moving towards the end of recession"
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