Raiffeisen housing division Banca pentru Locuinte (RBL) last year posted RON 1 M profit for the first time since it began operating in 2004, with over EUR 1 M allocated expenses for the merger with HVB Banca pentru Locuinte and in a context of financial crisis, RBL chairman Andrei Stamatian told a press conference yesterday. At the end of December the bank was managing more than 128,000 agreements totalling RON 2.26 bln, with the total contracted amount being higher by 21 per cent compared with the end of 2008.
“Interest rates were very helpful last year, but I don’t believe it will still be the case this year. Our objective in 2010 is to remain profitable, while knowing it will be more difficult this year,” Stamatian explained. The RBL head noted the total volume of bank customers’ savings at the end of 2009 was of RON 250 M. “A customer saves an average of RON 50 a month, but an important share of our customers – about 10 per cent – have made placements so that they could maximise the state-awarded premium,” the RBL official said. He also explained that 70 per cent of the bank’s customers who had concluded agreements in 2009 had been saving regularly, meaning every month. Stamatian pointed out there were also customers, approximately 5 per cent of the portfolio, who save tens of thousands of RON in order to qualify for better borrowing conditions.
RBL’s credit portfolio exceeds 2,500 loans, their volume having grown from a rough total of RON 47 M at the end of 2008 to RON 50 M in 2009. Last year, RBL signed 33,000 new agreements, more than 5,000 being concluded in Q1. On the other hand, RBL plans to offer financing solutions to home owners in buildings signed up for the energy saving programme who cannot afford meeting the 20 per cent cost share. The bank has concluded a co-operation protocol with the Cluj-Napoca Municipality in that respect.
previous post
