The Austrians at Volksbank have increased their assets by one billion euros in the first half, which reached 4.5 billion euros in June. Six months into the year, the bank made 17.7 million euro gross profit, 64% higher than in the first half of 2007. "The growth was fuelled by retail mortgage-backed loans. The fast-paced development of the market allowed us to exceed our targets," commented Gerald Schreiner, Volksbank chairman. The volume of loans granted had reached 2.89 billion euros at the end of June, compared with 1.3 billion euros in mid 2007. Volksbank expanded its territorial network a great deal, and reached 263 branches in June. The network will reach 320 branches at the end of the year, 200 owned by the bank and 120 franchised. "We managed to improve profitability despite the fast-paced expansion of the network. We could have gained even more had we bet on exchange rate fluctuations but we preferred to focus on commercial operations," Schreiner said.
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