Millennium Bank, the domestic unit of the Portuguese bank that competed in the race for BCR in 2005, is relying on corporate customers and small firms in terms of turnover growth this year. In the case of individual clients, the bank expects significant demand concentrated in the lending area, to be exploited on the longer term.
"The corporate sector and SMEs will have major contributions to turnover growth, but we also foresee rapid growth on the consumer lending side. Turnover in the retail area (where the bank targets above-average income clients i.e.) may advance at a slower pace, but the area still has significant potential on the long term," states Jose Toscano, the general manager of Millennium Bank Romania.
The Portuguese bank began operating on the Romanian market in October 2007, starting from scratch with a 40m-euro investment. Millennium preferred starting with a complete services offering and a 39-branch operational network after losing the battle for BCR to Erste Bank in 2005.
In the first stage after operation launch, the bank's business is structured along three major pillars: companies, consumer loans sold through some small specialised centres and general retail, where it also runs a private banking department.
Toscano states that for now Millennium has hit its targets for the end of 2007 both in terms of the number of accounts and the volume of deposits and released loans.
He says Millennium is counting on cross sales, both in terms of own product promotion and partnerships with external collaborators.
Thus, the bank is likely to introduce the sale of investment fund units this year, with the decision depending on market demand.
Also, Toscano says the project related to the building of the Romanian subsidiary still has the group's support despite the recent management changes at the parent company.
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