British businessman Dominic Bruynseels effectively took over the duties of chief executive at BCR yesterday, after having travelled extensively throughout the country with Manfred Wimmer in the two months since he was appointed CEO, with a view to understanding the Romanian business model.
The first task of Bruynseels, 48, is to outline a strategy for the development of the bank for the coming years. He replaces Manfred Wimmer at the helm of BCR, the mastermind behind the takeover of the bank by the Austrians at Erste and the man who served as the interim CEO after Nicolae Danila left in December.
Wimmer, 52, was also in charge of coordinating BCR's integration and development programme, which culminated in a set of 42 projects that were implemented to reorganise the bank and bring it up to Erste Bank's standards.
"The foundations have been laid. The first effects are already visible and the road has been paved for Dominic to take the bank further," Manfred Wimmer said yesterday.
The BCR group posted a spectacular rise in profit, 82% in RON, in the first quarter, up to 383 million RON (104 million euros). At the same time, BCR has significantly improved its efficiency, with the cost/revenue ratio going down to 39.7% in the first quarter from 55% in the same time of 2007. BCR remains the leader of the banking system, with 17.5 billion euros in assets in March. BRD, the second-largest player, totalled 11.1 billion euros in assets.
"Over the next three months, we will work together with the specialists of the group to create a development strategy for BCR for the coming period. It won't be next week or next month, but I will come up with a strategy by the end of the year," Dominic Bruynseels said yesterday. After having been appointed chief executive officer of Banca Comerciala Romana by the Supervisory Board in April, he toured the country
