Raiffeisen Bank, the third largest player in the system, is starting to feel the pressure of stronger competition, after Alpha Bank advanced and climbed to fourth position, and UniCredit Tiriac started to focus on its volume of operations.
"I believe our biggest challenge in 2008 is pursuing our long-term strategy without being held back by what's happening around us," says Steven van Groningen, chairman of Raiffeisen Bank. He believes the biggest threat is the "fierce" competition and the potential turmoil on international financial markets.
After the first nine months of 2007, Raiffeisen retained the third position in terms of assets, with a total of 5bn euros, according to the data published by the parent company, Raiffeisen International.
At the same time, Alpha leapt to the fourth position, with assets worth 3.7bn euros, after it succeeded in boosting its turnover by 75% between December 2006 and September 2007.
In addition, UniCredit Tiriac, which targeted the fourth position, dropped to sixth after the first nine months of 2007, with assets worth 3.3bn euros. Banca Transilvania managed to hold on to the fifth position (gained in late 2006).
"For 2008, we forecast a significant increase in income. In terms of loans, it's still too early to make estimates, but we want to advance more rapidly than the overall market in order to boost our market share," states Sergiu Oprescu, executive vice-president of Alpha Bank. For 2007, the bank expects to derive slightly less income than in 2006 amid significant investments. Oprescu also foresees tight competition particularly from newcomers. The Greeks are rapidly expanding their territorial presence to support retail growth, with the network set to rise to 200 branches by late 2008, and 300 by 2010.
Raiffeisen also resumed rapid network expansion last year, and operated 382 branches
