CEC posts 10.3m-euro profit

CEC (The Romanian Savings Bank) posted net profit worth nearly 10.3 million euros in the first four months of the year, Radu Ghetea, chairman of the CEC, told ZF. However, he refused to extend the estimate for the year as a whole, citing planned investments with resources secured after the capital increase in December 2006, which will not generate sure gains as a result of placements. The bank’s assets have come close to a sum equivalent to 2.4 billion euros, given that the credit portfolio amounted to 1.12 billion euros at the end of April. At the same time, deposits made by clients were 1.6 times higher, standing at 1.85 billion euros. Ghetea says the bank will continue to invest in IT infrastructure and will make a decision on what next steps it will take. Within three years, CEC could be operating the latest IT system on the market, and, being the newcomer, it will have the advantage of being able to use the latest technological innovations in the system. Another important investment area will be promoting the bank’s products and image. “There is no time to lose, so, in the coming period, we will launch an advertising campaign to promote our best products – the credit card and the current account with a term deposit interest. We believe we can also attract customers over the summer, when owning a credit card can be very useful. This does not apply to corporate clients, that can only be approached between autumn and spring, or you may as well forget about it,” stated Ghetea, who has extensive experience in corporate banking.