UniCredit: Romania Expansion Plan To Start Once Economy Recovers For Sure

05.20.2011 By Florentina Dragu

Italian banking group UniCredit will kick off its territorial expansion program in Romania once the economy is sure to have emerged from the crisis, said Gianni Franco Papa, head of Unicredit’s division for the CEE region.

He added that it would take some time before Romanian economy recovers, even if the first-quarter data indicate a technical exit from the recession.

Romanian economy expanded by 0.6% in the first quarter, after a recovery of just 0.1% three months earlier, according to preliminary figures from the statistics institute.

In January, UniCredit announced plans to open 50 new branches in Romania by year-end. The group currently runs 246 branches in Romania and employs 3,030 staff.

The group's business in Romania includes UniCredit Tiriac Bank, UniCredit Leasing Corporation, UniCredit CA-IB Securities Romania, UniCredit CAIB Romania, UniCredit Insurance Broker, Pioneer Asset Management, UniCredit Consumer Financing (UCFin) and UniCredit Business Partner.

UniCredit's consolidated net profit in Romania halved to 30 million lei (EUR7.3 million) in the first quarter.

UniCredit Tiriac Bank reported a net profit of 34 million lei (EUR8.3 million), down 47% on the year, due to negative effects of the recession and lower margins. (EUR1=RON4.1091)