Turkey's Garanti wants a top ten position, though profit is main priority

Turkey’s Garanti Bank wants to secure a top ten position in the next two to three years, after having brought over 1bn euros since the onset of the crisis to develop its Romanian operations. However, profit is topmost and we will not buy market share at any price, says Murat Atay, general manager of Garanti Bank Romania.

Garanti ended 2010 with 1.4bn-euro assets, up 70% from 2009, ranking 14th among players in the system. For this year, the bank targets 30% lending growth, thus going beyond the 1bn-euro threshold, after having taken a 45% leap in 2010.

“In two or three years at most we want to be among the top ten. However, our main priority is profit, as there is no sense in getting market share if it doesn’t bring you any gains,” said Atay at a meeting with journalists.

However, rivals consider Garanti is “buying” market share with very cheap loans, given that it posted two-digit growth in a year when most players saw their portfolios shrink or grow marginally at best.