"We'll open only 18 branches this year out of the 40 we planned. Thus, we'll reach a network of 35 branches by yearend. We had an ambitious strategy for this year, but we couldn't spend as much as we had planned. Next year, we'll open another 27 branches," said Gerasimos Tsiaparas, general manager of Emporiki Bank. At the end of the first half, the bank held 134.7m-euro assets, up 9.5% from the end of last year. Emporiki is thus one of the small players of the system. The bank had a 0.2% market share at the end of last year and ranked 31st, according to NBR data. Emporiki did not reveal first-half profit or loss. "We'll generate profit in 2009," said Tsiaparas. The company's latest data points to a 15,000-euro loss in the first half of 2007, after 1m-euro profit in 2006. "Overall, it's been a good year for us. Our corporate loan portfolio increased three times. We attracted large companies and we're further banking on the corporate segment and will open three business centres next year, exclusively dedicated to companies. Our strategy also envisages the launch of agri-business products, but we'll also aim to develop the retail segment," Tsiaparas also says. For the bank, operations with enterprises offer the opportunity of cross sales. "Betting on the corporate segment, retail will inevitably grow at the same time." In total, the bank has over 9,500 customers and more than 5,000 debit and credit cards. The structure of the bank's loan portfolio shows 75% of financing is destined to SMEs, although 73% of customers are individuals. The amount of loans released until late 2007 stood at 77m euros, while the target for 2011 points to 1.8bn euros. The volume of granted loans reached 83.9m euros in the first half, up 9%. On the savings side, Emporiki raised interest rates at the same rate as other banks in the system did. Emporiki's strategy is more cautious, the more so as