The lender is betting on operations on the currency market, diversified banking services and rationalizing costs to end the year with profits.
"We are not for sale. We are a first hand Romanian brand," Hoanta said. He added that the bank will not focus mainly on market share in the following years, but will target consolidation. Currently, Carpatica's market share is less than one percent.
The lender is one of the few independent player left on the local banking system and it was repeatedly said that it was to be sold. However, Carpatica's shareholders repeatedly denied such rumors.
Last year, the bank registered net earnings, although below estimates, due to the financial crisis. "It was a difficult year foe everybody. Nobody had foreseen the dimensions of the crisis, some players' problems regarding the unbalance of [financing] sources and loans and the aberrant levels for deposits of some clients," Hoanta said.
