At the end of 2014, EximBank had assets of RON3.87 billion.
“The positive trend that we notice at half this year is a direct outcome of the up-grading process implemented by EximBank, focused on increasing the flexibility and adapting its offer of products and services to the companies’ demands. Thus, an optimization of the business model so that it could become sustainable, generating high returns and controlling risks was necessary, having in view the continuous descending trend of the reference rates on banking market that have had a high financial impact,” the bank’s executive president, Traian Halalai, said in a press release Monday.
The bank’s exposures during the first half of the year, on its own and on behalf of the state, rose 5% compared to the same period last year, to more than RON600 million.
The bank lowered its non-performing loans rate to 3.3% from 8.9% in June 2014, below the average level in the local banking system, which stands at around 13%.
“As far as the procedures for expanding the mandate of EximBank by taking over the specific functions of a development bank is concerned, the process of relevant legal framework revision and up-dating is almost finalized. We are confident that the inter-ministry committee – coordinated by the Ministry of Finance – is fully capable of finalizing the legal proceedings in the shortest time possible so that this business area will become operational by the end of the year,” said Halalai.
EximBank will diversify and intensify current activities taking over new attributions as a development bank.
“We have in mind a development bank as a specialized institution established by the Government in order to contribute to the economic development by financing the priority domains, including infrastructure projects, supporting Romanian exports and increasing of the absorption rate of European funds,” the bank official explained.
Last year, the Romanian lender had a net profit of RON46.6 million (EUR10.5 million), slightly higher than in 2013, while its operating profit grew 50%, to RON121 million. Earnings were affected by balance sheet clean-up provisions of RON67 million.