Alpha Bank Romania, the largest Greek bank subsidiary on the local market, has contracted a EUR 50 million loan from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank's investment division, to finance its mortgage loan business, IFC announced yesterday.

This is the second loan Alpha Bank has contracted from IFC in the last two years. In 2015, IFC granted the Romanian bank a loan of USD 30 million to support its international trade financing operations.

Alpha Bank is the largest bank with Greek capital in Romania and a top 10 player in the local banking system. The bank earned a pre-tax profit of EUR 13.1 million last year, compared to losses of more than EUR 18 million in 2015. This was due to a rise in operating revenues and a reduction in the costs related to non-performing loans.

IFC has launched this week a RON 70 million (EUR 15.3 million) bond issue via private placement. This is IFC’s first bond issuance in Romanian currency lei.

editor@romania-insider.com