The bank remains a substantial player in the local syndicated loan market, and continued to generate business in this area even in the difficult conditions of 2008, including raising a total of €266m for Baneasa real estate project and a €250m participation in the $3bn loan that financed the KazMunaiGaz purchase of local hydrocarbons distributor Rompetrol.
Crucially, however, the bank also continued its efforts to rebalance its portfolio further towards retail services, which now account for 50% of its activities, and its network now extends to 806 agencies nationwide.
“In 2008 we have succeeded in confirming our performance in all markets: retail, small and medium-sized enterprises, and big corporate customers. The efforts we have deployed to build synergies between, on the one hand, commercial development and, on the other, the extension of our retail network, have proven their efficiency,” says Patrick Gelin, CEO of BRD-Groupe Société Générale. “We have succeeded in doing all this through a well calibrated policy, based on very strict risk management principles.
“We will try to maintain a good rhythm of growth in 2009 as we think there is still enough room for developing banking services in Romania; to attain this objective, we count on the quality of our products, the quality of our relationship with our customers and our capacity to adapt to the changes of the environment.”
