BCR bet on corporate lending, but retail weighed upon results
BCR, the biggest domestic bank, last year pushed up market share
on the corporate segment, to over 25%, but the rapidly
deteriorating turnover of the retail unit halved the entire group's
annual profit, to 110m euros, and drove the group into the red in
the fourth quarter even in line with IFRS.
The corporate unit came to bring 57% of the bank's loan portfolio,
up 5.5% from 2009 and 10% from 2008. For the second consecutive
year, the corporate loan volume rose by over 15%, on working
capital supply and the funding of some state-owned companies.
Until 2008 inclusively, retail weighed more against the corporate
segment, but it proved to be the most vulnerable area for BCR amid
the crisis.
Besides the fallout related to the rising unemployment rate and
salary cuts, the bank was highly exposed to the scandal generated
by Ordinance 50.
In 2010, the retail loan portfolio dropped by 7.3% after having
declined by almost 7% in 2009.