Volksbank, one of the top-ranking banks that faced massive losses in the last two years, has broken the silence after a long period during which formal communication has been rare, announcing its ambition to become a full-service bank in 2011.
Basically the Austrians are now seeking to develop the side of
the business that includes savings products and trading services
for customers in order to expand their revenue base.
“Volksbank Romania will have an intensive focus in 2011 on offering
a full range of banking services. In view of that, we are already
offering current account and savings products and we have recently
improved our internet banking service to support our customers’ day
to day operations,” say bank representatives. Volksbank had grown
aggressively in the booming years, but its expansion relied almost
exclusively on the sale of mortgage-secured retail loans. From a
second-echelon player in 2005, the bank became number 3 in the
ranking of banks in 2008, with over 5 billion euros in assets. This
however left the bank vulnerable to the real estate market
collapse, with its share of non-performing loans amounting to
around 25% of the total in March last year. In the first nine
months of last year Volksbank accumulated 460 million RON (109
million euros) in net losses, calculated according to Romanian
accounting standards. Bank representatives say, however, that
operating income had climbed by 3 million euros last year.