Banca Romaneasca, the domestic branch of Greek group National Bank of Greece, reported gross income worth 6.95 million euros for the first half, 73% higher than the figure posted in the similar period of last year.

In late June, the bank had total assets worth slightly above 820 million euros, up 62% from last year's first half. In the first six months of this year, the bank's assets went up 33% in euros.

"With the support of our shareholder, National Bank of Greece, we will further build up our activity both on the corporate and retail segments and we are going to implement some new systems and procedures intended to sustain our growth," stated Andreas Maragkoudakis, the general manager of Banca Romaneasca.

The bank has managed to derive higher profit in the first 6 months of 2006, after last year's figure was hurt by aggressive growth and the need to set aside consistent provisions after the NBR changed regulations. Thus, this year's H1 income is 51% bigger than the one posted at the end of 2005.

At present, Banca Romaneasca operates a network of 50 branches and offices, after having opened six new branches in the first six months of the year. By the end of the first quarter of 2007, the network should double, to 95 branches.

In the first six months of this year, the bank managed to boost the volume of granted loans by 34%, to almost 540 million euros. Customer deposits increased at a slower pace, 29%, during this period, to a total volume of 200 million euros.

The bank's customer portfolio had reached 240,700 at the end of June, 21% above the level posted at the end of last year. Growth was driven by the retail segment, with the number of individual customers advancing by 24%, to 211,400.

During this interval, the number of legal entity customers went up by less than 5 percent, to 29,300. National Bank of Greece has ma