“I believe more than ever in the value of the BCR brand and the image of the bank is not poor. I would not willingly give up the name of a bank that includes the name of the country where it operates. That is why we have kept the names Ceska Sporitelna and Slovenska Sporitelna. BCR will not be rebranded because the bank’s image, as well as the bank’s performance will improve.”
The notion of changing the BCR name appeared at Erste’s annual General Meeting, where some shareholders, unhappy with the successive costs incurred by the Austrian bank because of the poor results of the Romanian-based bank, questioned the strategy pursued on the Romanian market.
Treichl has reaffirmed that the acquisition of BCR seven years ago cannot be considered an error and that the bank will return to profit this year.
Erste Group owns 93.6% in BCR.
(English version by Daniela Stoican)