“Overall lending will increase by 7% to 9%, with double-digit growth expected in some of the subsegments. We plan to focus on consumer loans and SMEs in the agricultural sector,” Diosi said.
In 2011, OTP Bank Romania reported a 6% increase in its loan portfolio to around EUR1.3 billion, mainly fueled by a 8% growth in mortgage lending. The numbers are adjusted for currency exchange rates.
Diosi estimated the bulk of this year’s loans will be in Romanian lei, even if long-term financing in domestic currency is still prohibitive because of the unappealing interest rates.
In 2011, most of the bank’s household clients preferred euro-denominated loans, while corporate clients borrowed more in lei, the bank’s chief said.
OTP Bank Romania has swung to a profit after taxes of EUR2.6 million in 2011, versus losses a year earlier, as provisions almost halved.
However, the decline in loan-loss provisions was far from spectacular, given that in 2010 provisions had doubled on the year, Diosi said.
“Provisions have returned to normal levels in 2011, or, more accurately, they returned to more normal levels,” he said.
For 2012, Diosi estimates loan-loss provisions will have a rather linear evolution.
OTP Bank Romania is owned by Hungary’s OTP Group. The group provides financial services in Hungary, Romania, Montenegro, Croatia, Bulgaria, Russia, Ukraine, Slovakia and Serbia, through almost 1500 branch offices, its ATM network and electronic channels.