Austria’s Erste Group, which in 2006 directly seized the top position in the Romanian banking system by taking over BCR for 3.75bn euros, is now determined to defend its leader position, taking advantage of its peers’ weaknesses.
BCR has constantly lost market share in recent years, so it is now getting ready to regain lost ground, especially on the corporate lending segment. Over the past few years, though, BCR has also lost ground on the retail segment, particularly at the height of the 2008 battle for mortgages, when it preferred to refrain from selling loans in Swiss francs at very low nominal interest rates.
While many medium and small banks are facing serious hurdles, large banks, with a solid revenue base, can afford looking beyond the crisis.
Austria’s Erste is keen on defending BCR’s leading position as a response to SocGen’s ambitions, which would like to see BRD lead domestically at a certain moment.