Austria’s Volksbank, a top ten player that has pursued aggressive growth on the retail segment in recent years, at the middle of this year had a volume of loans granted of 2.9 billion euros. After the first five months, the bank had derived gross income worth 14 million euros, daily Ziarul financiar reports in its July 8 issue.
The bank’s five-month gross income of 14 million euros accounted for almost 60% in the figures reached during the entire 2007 year.
"We closed June on assets worth 4.4 billion euros and according to our data we rank fourth in the system starting spring. However, the difference between No. 8 and No. 4 is very small and the ranking can be changed even by a larger exchange rate variation," Gerald Schreiner, Volksbank chairman, told ZF.
The Austrian bank entered the top ten of biggest players in the system last year and in December ranked eighth.
Data with the National Bank of Romania (BNR) indicate that at the end of last year five banks, namely Banca Transilvania, Bancpost, UniCredit Tiriac, Alpha and Volksbank, filled a very narrow interval, of between 3.5 and 3.8 billion euros.
The bank ranking third, Raiffeisen, stays at a somewhat bigger distance, with assets of 4.3 billion euros, despite the gap that separates it from the banks coming from behind has narrowed.
However, Volksbank has expanded its network aggressively in a bid to gain market share on the retail side, a segment it views as strategic. At present, it has 158 operational subsidiaries, with their number due to reach 200 by yearend.
Besides this, the bank also operates a network of offices under a franchise system, with their number set to hit 120 by December.
"The main challenge for us is to raise the productivity of the old subsidiaries, which have to sell more to cover loan repayment. At present, we see growth by 100 or 110 million euros per month on the lending side amid repayments of 30-40 million euros," explains Schreiner.
Schreiner says individuals and micro-enterprises, where the bank should grow faster than the market, will continue to be strategic segments for the bank. On the segment of corporate customers, Volksbank expects to be moving slower than the market.
The bank is now pursuing the development of relationships with customers, having a 200,000 customer portfolio. However, most individual clients want only loans and Schreiner’s main challenge is to make them buy other products, as well. This year, non-risk revenues (independent of lending activities) should reach 30% of the total, from 13% in 2006.
Volksbank is now expanding its product and services offer, including on the segment of distribution of investment fund units, where it works with KD. In parallel, the bank has recently resumed its Internet trading service.
"This August, we’ll also launch a private banking area business," Schreiner also says.
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