Banca Romaneasca doubles its credit portfolio

Greek-held Banca Romaneasca, the domestic branch of NBG, has managed to double its credit portfolio halfway through the year, while profitability of its operations also witnessed an increase. The bank posted an operating income worth 5.1 million euros in the first half of the year, up 20% against the first half of 2006, according to data published in Athens by NBG. The increase in profitability was sustained by the significant rise in revenues from interests, by 42%, to 25 million euros. However, revenues from commissions declined by 3%, to 5.7 million euros. Halfway through the year, the bank’s credit portfolio reached almost 1.05 billion euros, in comparison to 578 million euros in June last year. The increase was balanced on the corporate and retail segments and was sustained by the rapid expansion of the territorial network. On the retail segment, credits increased by 85% in June this year against June last year, to 513 million euros. Business in the corporate sector was only slightly higher and amounted to 537 million euros in June, a 79% increase against June 2006. Midway through the year, the territorial network consisted of 88 branches, an increase of 40 compared with June last year.