ATE Bank, a small bank controlled by ATE Bank Greek financial group, in the first half of this year managed to generate two-digit increases both in terms of lending and deposits attracted from clients, also staying in the black.
The bank ended the first half with net profit worth 1.2m RON (281,000 euros, in line with domestic accounting standards), after having generated net income worth 3.3m RON (0.9m euros) in 2008.
The amount of loans granted by the bank climbed by 12% in the first six months, to 666m RON (158m euros). Against non-governmental credit volume in May, the bank has a 0.3% market share. New loans to individual clients reached 22m RON in the first half.
ATE entered the Romanian market in 2006, when it took over the majority stake in Mindbank, the oldest Romanian-held private bank in the system. At present, ATE Bank Greece owns 74% of the bank, while IFC holds 15%.
In the first half, ATE Bank boosted client deposits by 47% in RON, to 291m RON (69m euros).
The bank currently operates a 32-territorial branch network, with another three branches to become operational during August. Alina Pascu, deputy general manager and member of the bank's Board of Directors, says no further openings are scheduled by yearend, but expansion plans will be revised after October. As a matter of fact, Pascu says the bank made significant efforts in the first half to cut costs and stay in the black.
Greece's ATE also operates an insurance firm domestically, ATE Insurance, but it has had a low profile on the market so far. Now, the group is trying to promote both banking and insurance services. "So far, we've been busy developing our own retail products and we haven't had time to also consider bank-assurance products. Now, though, we're planning to develop insurance attached to debit and credit card products covering death and unemployment risk
