Last year, Banca Transilvania had a net profit of 131.87 million lei, up 35%, over 2011, according to the earnings of 2010, according to a press release by the bank. The gross profit of the bank increased 38% in 2011, compared to the previous year, to 185.77 million lei.

The bank's earnings are considered by some analysts as good, considering that 2011was a difficult year and the Romanian banking system had a loss of almost 430 million lei (100 million Euro), compared to a loss of 516 million lei in 2010.

Also, the rising earnings of Banca Transilvania seems paradoxical after the departure of Robert Rekkers, the bank's general manager, a secret which withstood all of our attempts to uncover it, and which has yet to be made public. There were rumors that Robert Rekkers resigned from Banca Transilvania because he had received a better offer from another bank, or that he had disagreements with the shareholders of BT, concerning the bank's strategy.

According to the press release of the bank, its 2011 results can be explained by interest revenues, the continued increase in lending, the drop of the net spending and the continued cost optimization.

Horia Ciorcilă, the president of the Board of Directors of BT said: "We are happy to have beaten our expected 2011 numbers, and Banca Transilvania came out a winner last year, once again proving that its operations are growing. The annual results were predictable, especially since between July and September 2011 this was the greatest quarter the bank had in the last three years. We are well prepared for 2012 and we will continue to grow in the same prudent and healthy manner, just like we did over the last three years. We believe in our mission to support the economy and the domestic entrepreneurs, precisely because we are the largest bank with majority Romanian stockholders and the third largest bank i