Erste: BCR must recoup lost market share

Interest rates will continue to fall, despite persisting inflationary pressures, but the policy Erste/BCR will embrace will be to encourage customers to be moderate in their borrowing, states Andreas Treichl, Erste Bank chairman.

At the same time, he says, there are chances that the domestic currency will further appreciate over the following years, considering that there will be a continuous inflow of foreign investments.

“Irrespective of potential problems, there are good chances that Romania”s economic growth rate will at least double in comparison to that of the EU over the next ten years. And despite the wide current account deficit, the country may be so well regarded by businessmen that the gap will be covered by investments,” states Treichl.

Based on its business plan, Erste will further expand the territorial network of BCR, which currently includes 380 branches. “We are not the only ones wanting to do this, but the number of BCR branches will witness accelerated growth, including the number of ATMs and POS, because we are speaking about a strongly under-banked market, though expansion will be a selective process: we will also have relocations and we will not offer all our products and services everywhere,” stated Treichl.

Erste will retain the BCR brand, but its logo will be presented in brighter colours, following the red/blue model of the group. Moreover, the Austrians will not remove Nicolae Danila from the position of executive chairman.

“The decision has been made for the long term. We wouldn”t have selected a CEO for 12 months since this would have been an inefficient move. As regards the other managers, we haven”t made a decision yet, because we”ve just become acquainted with some of them. We will be careful that no interruptions occur, and the management”s task over the next 12 months is to tend to customers,” stated Treichl. Nicolae Danila is a shareholder in BCR, but chose not to discuss the stake he owns. He is said to hold upwards of 1 million shares worth over 7 million euros, if calculated at the price paid by Erste, 7.65 euros/share,

Treichl believes BCR can soon regain the several percentage points it has lost over the last two years in terms of market share, and can reach as much as 35%, from the current figure of around 25%. He says investments worth about 100 million euros will be made, focused upon technology, personnel training and product distribution channels.