Retail loans in Romania are troublesome for Austrians at Erste

Retail loans in Romania were the most problematic for the Austrians at Erste, which saw one of the fastest deterioration rates in 2009.
In the fourth quarter alone, provisions allocated in Romania for loans granted to individuals and to SMEs totalled 200 million euros, the highest level recorded by a subsidiary of the group in Central and Eastern Europe.
Erste also has operations in the Czech Republic, which remains the group’s largest foreign market, and in Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, and Ukraine.
In its report Erste notes that 1.2% of the volume of retail loans were restructured, with this being the second largest share recorded in a group subsidiary, after Ukraine, with 18% of the loans. Hungary ranks third, with 1% of the total.
Erste reported 1.61 billion euros in non-performing assets in Romania at the end of last year, of which 1.49 billion euros were accounted for by exposure to individual clients and small companies.