Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Marfin Bank Romania committed to local banking market Doros Ktorides, Chief Executive Officer Marfin Bank Romania R: What do you think of the banking system in 2010? Can one say the peak of the crisis has been left behind? DK: In 2010 the banking system continued to face similar problems with the previous years. Due to the fact that the economy doesn’t recover as it was expected, clients can’t meet their financial obligations and as a result Non Performing Loans and provisions have increased significantly putting pressure to the capital adequacy ratios of the banks and the profitability of the system. Adapting the new environment the banks have started to assess their organizational structure through consolidation of activities, emphasis in cost cutting, and focus in the restructuring of the existing loans portfolio. In addition, in order to improve the demand for new facilities banks offer attractive terms to specific market segments who have the potential. Today’s economic environment is so volatile that no one can express with certainty an opinion. This is the reason that all the reputable analysts revise their views from time to time. The initial expectations for economic growth in Romania this year has been proved optimistic. On the contrary, we have a GDP contraction of 1.50% as the fiscal consolidation measures agreed with IMF which include 25% cut of the salaries of public sector and a 5% increase in VAT had a negative impact on the market. However, there are some signs of optimism and we aspect that 2011 will be a better year, with moderate growth. Banks seeing the opportunity have started to become more active in the loans market. R: What are Marfin Bank’s expectations this year? How does Ordinance 50/2010 affect the Bank’s relations with its customers? DK: The results of 2010 for MARFIN BANK seem to be beyond our expectations. The proactive measures that our bank has taken and the close relationship with our clients led to significant improvement in all of our ratios. For example, our profitability for the period January – August 2010 is up 114% compared with the same period of 2009, while our balance sheet has increased more than 10%. Regarding the new ordinance at the beginning it created some tension, but our bank from the first time informed all the customers about the new modifications in order to avoid any conflicts. R: Are you preparing any new promotions? Can we expect loan interest rates to go down? DK: Despite the unfavorable economic environment, our bank will have a very busy winter. First of all, we are going to launch a complete range of retail products (debit-credit cards, mortgage loans, capital guarantee products, upgraded internet banking application) in order to satisfy adequately our customer’s needs. Concerning interest rates we expect that interest rates especially for mortgage will drop as the market will be more mature and the customers exploit every available alternative for refinance. R: What strategy are you preparing to grow your market share this year? DK: Our Group is committed to the local market believing that is going to recover gradually in the near future and business opportunities will arise. In this context MARFIN BANK (ROMANIA) has almost completed all the necessary investments in order to improve infrastructure that is needed to expand our activities. In addition, with a new implemented marketing mix we are planning to strength our position in corporate and retail based on innovative and competitive in terms of pricing products. Of course, the milestone in all these process is to serve our customers with an exceptional way.