Leumi forecasts 2.5m-euro profit

Bank Leumi, the local branch of one of the top financial groups in Israel, targets profit worth around 4 million-dollars (2.5 million-euro) this year, after the bank managed to step into the black in 2007. The Israeli-based bank entered the Romanian market in 2006 when it took over a small player, Eurom Bank, in a deal worth 34 million dollars. The bank ended 2007 with net profit worth almost half a million dollars, which is better than planned, considering it only expected to break even in a year that was viewed as a transition year. “Retail remains the main destination of funding, though increasing slower than the commercial segment,” says Laurentiu Mitrache, the bank’s general manager. Leumi ended last year with assets worth around 300 million-dollar (200 million euros). The assets should go up to 400 million dollars this year, an increase of over 30%. Mitrache says most of the bank’s business comes from real estate loans where the bank works with a number of Israeli clients. “About 40 to 50% of the real estate loans are granted in partnership with our parent bank or are registered as granted by it.”