“Loan demand increased particularly in the area of consumer loans and I expect the tendency to maintain in the coming period. However, the times when clients queued up for loans are over. Now, we must go after clients,” stated Catalin Parvu, chief executive officer of Piraeus Bank.
Piraeus has over EUR800 million worth of consumer loans and they account for more than half in the bank’s portfolio, which included loans of around EUR1.5 billion in mid-2014.
Catalin Parvu says consumer loan sales are 30-40% higher than last year.
Piraeus head also says demand is good on the corporate segment as well. The number of corporate clients with loans rose by 22% in the first half, and volumes advanced by 11% in the same period. On the SME segment, the increase reached 9%.
The bank has around 22,000 SME clients and 750 corporate clients. “Our strategy is focused on domestic and Greek mid-market companies,” said Parvu.
He added the bank moved to speed up lending as early as 2012. Piraeus supports new lending exclusively with funds raised domestically and counts ever less on the resources of its parent bank.
The bank’s deposits rose 3% in the first half of this year, above the market average, and by yearend Parvu expects a 7-8% growth pace.
Ranking 11th in the banking system, with assets of above EUR2 billion, the bank has 300,000 retail clients. Piraeus operates through a network of 131 branches and agencies, after closing down 9 units this year.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)