Piraeus Bank still after acquisition target

Greek group Piraeus Bank will continue its organic development on the Romanian market, but is still “eyeing” the acquisition of a bank on the Romanian market. The Greek group has been in talks over the last several months for the takeover of Banca Tiriac. The deal was not sealed, though, since Ion Tiriac, the majority shareholder, at the last moment decided to decline all the bids he had received.

“Piraeus Bank is still interested in the Romanian market, with the acquisition of another bank being part of its long-term development strategy. By then, Piraeus Bank Romania will continue to grow on its own, organically,” Emanuel Odobescu, chairman of Piraeus Bank, commented for Ziarul Financiar.

He says that the subsidiary network has expanded from 2 in 2000 to 7 at present, another 5-6 units being planned by the end of 2004.

“All these confirm the confidence Piraeus Bank has in the growth potential of the Romanian banking system, in the existence of real opportunities and in the improvement of the Romanian business climate,” the bank’s official added.

The latest information show that the bank’s assets rose in late March 2004 to over 197 million euros from 106 million euros in March 2003. At the same time, the loans granted reached 134 million euros at the end of March 2004, as compared to 68 million euros in March 2003.

The bank’s market share in Romania, from the point of view of banking assets, went up to 1.2% in late 2003, from 0.2% in December 1999, while the weight of loans increased to 1.4% from a practically zero level, over the same period of time.