Banca Transilvania borrows to support growth

BT is listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) and has a market capitalization worth €1.5 billion.

Unlike most lenders in the Romanian banking system, BT is not part of a major international group. "This is a disadvantage, but not a problem. Banca Transilvania can obtain sufficient resources from the market for its development," the bank's General Manager, Robert Rekkers, told Business Standard.

The latest financing obtained by BT, from ABN Amro Bank Holland and ABN Amro Bank Romania, worth €60 mln, was finalized yesterday. The funds are to be used for the bank's territorial expansion to 500 units in 2008, and to increase the loan portfolio.

This is the latest of several financing operations for Banca Transilvania, following the sale of 90 percent of its insurance operator, BT Asigurari, to French group Groupama, for some €90 mln, and loans from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which is a BT shareholder.

Furthermore, the sale of insurance company Asiban, of which Banca Transilvania owns a 25 percent share, is expected next year.