Alpha Bank pushes for retail, relies on corporate

Four offices by the end of July, three new products by May, new lending facilities by cards. These are some of Alpha Bank’s retail expansion projects, along with the development of the corporate client portfolio. Alpha Bank Romania, subsidiary of the second-largest Greek banking group concluded 2002 with $13.4 million gross profit, which is comparable with the 2002 levels. Assets were worth 47% more in 2002, reaching $438 million. In 2001, Alpha Bank had ranked eighth in terms of assets. Its credit portfolio totalled $264 million in 2002, 33% more than in 2001, while client deposits reached $183 million, up approximately 48% compared with 2001. Lending for SMEs was worth more than $4 million. “We continued to consolidate the corporate client segment and at the same time developed the retail division. Interests went down and the spread between active and passive interests followed suit, as a result of the competition on the local market and of the latest developments on the international markets,” Eleftherios Ioannou, Alpha Bank Group Romania president said. ZF