Romanian BCR Group Is Erste’s Most Efficient Unit Erste GM

He said a retail bank should make profit during economic slowdown periods, not only when the economy is booming.

In 2008, the BCR Group registered a solid growth in overall performance and a more efficient cost control, the bank said Friday in a press release.

Due to better operating results, the group’s cost-income ratio significantly improved to 41.4%, from 57.5% at the end of 2007, better than the previously stated 46.9% target for end of 2008.

Romania’s BCR Group reported Friday a 120% hike in its 2008 consolidated net profit after taxes and minority interests to a record 2.03 billion lei (EUR541 million), including proceeds from the sale of its insurance operations.

Excluding one-off revenues from the sale of BCR’s minority shares in Romanian insurer Asiban and in Italian bank Banca Italo-Romena, as well as its insurance business, totaling RON745.9 million after tax, net profit after taxes was RON1.29 billion (EUR348.4 million), 39% higher than in 2007.

BCR is majority owned by Austria’s Erste, which paid EUR3.75 billion for 61.88% of its shares in 2006. The Austrian group hiked afterwards its participation in BCR at a 69.17% stake, through taking over the shares owned by the lender’s employees.

BCR Group includes the largest Romanian bank by assets BCR, BCR Administrare Fond de Pensii, BCR Leasing, BCR Asset Management, BCR Securities, Anglo-Romanian Bank Ltd. and BCR Chisinau.