Garanti Bank, the domestic arm of Turkey's third largest bank, is attempting to pursue aggressive growth on the retail segment and become a "top" player, after maintaining a small presence for 10 years, focusing on commercial transaction financing.
"Garanti Bank is a universal bank in Turkey, ranking third on the market. We've decided to bring this know-how to Romania," Berat Icinsel, the general manager of the domestic unit, told ZF.
After operating with just a few branches in recent years, the Bucharest arm of Garanti is set to expand its territorial presence to 40 units by December. The rate will continue over the next two years, with the network expected to reach 120 branches by 2009.
In 2005, GE Money, the financial investment arm of General Electric US giant, became a Garanti Bank shareholder by buying a 25% stake in it. Last year, the Americans also took their first step onto the domestic market, and took over 3 non-banking financial companies in a deal worth 140m euros. It remains to be seen how the three companies owned by General Electric will work with Garanti.
"We are discussing a joint strategy. At present, it's too early to comment since the strategy still has to be approved by the authorities," says Icinsel.
He believes there remains enough room for growth on the domestic market and expects banking assets to witness rapid growth in the coming years, taking into consideration the experience of other states already in the EU.
"Romania is an important market for us and we'll do everything that's necessary to become a top player. We already have the know-how and all we need to do is apply it in Romania," adds Icinsel.
In late September, Garanti Bank Romania held assets worth 175 million euros. At present, the retail segment accounts for 6% of the bank's turnover, up from zero percent in January.
"We expect our assets to more than double within the next two years, and our plan is to pursue aggressive growth until 2009".
Although he did not outline the exact nature of investments earmarked for the next two years, Icinsel says they will cover unit network expansion and the development of 360 ATMs. Garanti intends to use both the traditional network and alternative channels to continue its growth.
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