SARAJEVO (Bosnia and Herzegovina), October 19 (SeeNews) – Bosnia’s Sparkasse Bank, a unit of Austrian group Steiermaerkische Sparkasse, said it has invested 27 million marka ($20.6 million/13.8 million euro) in the acquisition and outfitting of a new head office in Sarajevo, local media reported.
The agreement signed with the Klimavent and Teloptic companies for the purchase of the Importanne Centre office building is part of Sparkasse's 40 million marka investment programme for 2009/2010, online news portal 24 Sata (www.24sata.info) reported on Friday, quoting news agency Fena (www.fena.ba).
The business centre, offering 7,000 square metres of office space, will house from the first half of 2010 the lender's head office as well as its sibling company S-Leasing, 24sata reported, quoting Sparkasse Executive Director Nedim Alihodjic.
Sparkasse Bank, formerly ABS Banka, is aiming for a spot among the top six banks in Bosnia and Herzegoviina, Alihodjic was also quoted as saying.
As at the end of last year, Sparkasse Bank (www.sparkasse.ba) had a balance sheet total of around 270 million euro ($403.4 million) with 380 employees looking after around 103,000 customers in 50 branches, the 2008 annual report of its parent group indicated.
According to the report, Steiermärkische Sparkasse's regional footprint also includes stakes in Erste und Steiermaerkische Bank in Croatia, Erste Bank Novi Sad in Serbia, Banka Sparkasse in Slovenia and Investbanka Skopje in Macedonia. Steiermaerkische also has interests in other financial institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia.
(1 euro=1.9548 Bosnian marka)
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