November 25 (SeeNews) - ING Bank Romania said on Wednesday its nine-month gross profit rose by 23% on the year to 109 million lei ($38.4 million/25.6 million euro).
Net revenue increased by an annual 48% to 539 million lei in the January-September period, the bank said in a statement. Its total assets rose by 17% year-on-year to 10.935 billion lei at the end of September.
“Amid constantly changing market conditions, we posted better financial results than in 2008 and launched many new products,” the Deputy Director General of the bank, Albert Roggemans, said.
The number of retail clients increased to 847,000 at the end of September, from 626,000 a year earlier. The number of small and medium-sized enterprises among the lender's clients more than doubled to 13,836 compared to the end of September last year.
The bank said its loans/deposits ratio was 95% as of end-September, ensuring a solid position on the Romanian market.
Going forward, ING Bank Romania plans to strengthen its market position as it aims to become a leader on the local e-banking segment and reach the one-million milestone in terms of customer base, the bank’s Director General, Misu Negritoiu, said.
ING Bank had a market share of 3.5% in terms of assets at end-2008, according to data from Romania's central bank.
ING Bank Romania is the local unit of Dutch banking group ING, which entered the Romanian market in 1994 and started developing its retail business in the country in 2004.
(1 euro =4.2582 Romanian lei)