With unprecedented expansion both in agencies and human resources BRD-Groupe Société Générale had an outstanding year in 2006, providing strong growth in all key banking indicators, including sustained and balanced development in all business lines and consistently high profitability with a RoE of 35%.
In 2006, BRD’s Tier 1 capital rose by 26%, total assets increased by 46% and net profits grew by 18%. Besides the increased profits, the key development was the growth of the bank’s network. BRD opened one new branch per working day, on average, adding 274 new branches during the year and bringing the total to 500 branches by year-end 2006. It opened 35 branches in the first quarter of 2007 and is now second, behind CEC-Romanian Savings Bank, in terms of the number of agencies.
With 360,000 new active customers in 2006, the bank was able to increase its market share for loans and deposits from 16% to 17% and from 19% to 20% respectively. Also the bank launched the first complete offer for SMEs in the country, including credit, investment and current business financing products. Despite the major expansion, the cost-income ratio remained steady at 49%.
