Finansbank sees up to 30 pct loan growth

ISTANBUL - Reuters

Finansbank is were aiming for 100,000 customers and 2 billion Turkish Liras of deposits at the end of first year, General Manager Güzeloğlu says.

Finansbank, the Turkish arm of National Bank of Greece, expects loan growth of 25-30 percent in 2013 while boosting deposits by offering new higher-yield products.

Though Turkey’s eighth-largest bank by assets, Finansbank is the country’s leading retail bank and plans to expand aggressively in 2013.

It intends to add 70 new branches to its 542-strong network in 2013, General Manager Temel Güzeloğlu told Reuters yesterday.

Consumer loans account for 65 percent of the bank’s total lending, compared with 38 percent for its closest peer in the sector.

Turkey was Europe’s fastest-growing economy last year, with 8.5 percent growth, and Guzeloglu said that overall bank lending is expected to increase by about 15 percent in 2012 and 20 percent in 2013.
Finansbank achieved loan growth of 19 percent in 2011 and expects 20 percent this year, Guzeloglu said, adding that he sees Finansbank deposits increasing by 10 percent in 2012 and 20 percent in 2013.

The Turkish government last month trimmed its forecasts for growth in 2012 to 3.2 percent and forecast only a mild pick-up next year.

The central bank has been cautiously easing monetary policy since July to stimulate domestic demand, providing more lira liquidity to the banking system and cutting its overnight lending rate. But it has tried to avoid stoking inflation.

The bank has kept its central policy rate, the one-week repo rate, at a record low of 5.75 percent since August 2011.

Finansbank last month launched a new product called “en para” to attract deposits, offering annual interest of 10 percent. “We had over 20,000 customers in the first month after launching ‘en para,’” Güzelogğlu said.