Interview with George Christoforou, General Manager Bank of Cyprus.
How do you asses the activity of the Romanian branches and the latest economic results?
The targets of 2008 have been exceeded, not only in terms of assets volumes, but also in terms of profitability; the activities in Romania have been profitable from the first full year of operations. During this year the Bank had obtained a market share of almost 0, 6 per cent of the lending market calculated on a basis that includes both in-border and cross-border lending volumes. In 2009 we maintained our position. Through tactical moves, improved yields and achieved efficiencies, we also managed to improve profitability which in H1 reached EUR 5 M.
Taking into account the present financial crisis, what are the estimated results for the end of this year? Did the crisis affect your plans? Have you prepared a certain strategy in this respect?
In today’s crisis conditions we are naturally adjusting our tactics. We continue to grow in a cautious manner, but also a lot of effort is paid in supporting existing clientele and in maintaining the healthiness of the existing portfolio. In addition we have started focusing towards gaining funding independence by attracting local deposits. During this year we will have 6 branches more than 2008. Now we are assessing our after-crisis strategy.
How does your bank stands from deposit point of view?
As I said, in 2008 and also in 2009 we gave special attention to saving activity, by offering a range of flexible products designed to fulfil customers’ expectations. We follow the prudence principle wherever we operate and this means that there has to be a balance in the building of assets and of liabilities. This effort is on a good track: customer deposit today shows an increase versus December 2008 of more than 30 per cent, and we hope to do even better until the year-end.
110th anniversary
Bank of Cyprus Group, the largest and most outward-looking organization in Cyprus marks this year its 110th anniversary. Having established itself over a whole century as the leading and trustworthy Cypriot bank and as a pioneer of economic development, builds an international profile, strengthening further its dynamic presence in Greece, Russia, United Kingdom, Channel Islands, Australia, Ukraine, and Romania.
The Group’s disciplined and prudent expansion is based on its sound fundamentals which are proved by the financial results for 2008. After tax profit grew by 4 per cent to EUR 502 M, which corresponds to a very satisfactory return on equity of 25.1 per cent, group’s liquidity remained on a very high level with loans to deposits ratio reaching 90 per cent, and the high quality of its loan portfolio was also maintained with the ratio of non-performing loans to total loans standing at 3.8 per cent. As of 30th of June 2009 Group’s capital adequacy ratio stood at 12.4 per cent and the tier I ratio at 11.1 per cent. The core tier I ratio stood at 7.5 per cent.
