Romanian lender Banca Transilvania follows Romanians to Italy with a first branch in Rome

Romanian lender Banca Transilvania decided to follow the wave of Romanians working abroad and will open its first branch in Italy in November. With around a million Romanians currently working in Italy, out of which 200,000 estimate to stay in or nearby Rome, Banca Transilvania plans to open its first Italian unit in the Italian capital. According to the bank, this international expansion also targets to reach the around 10,000 companies set up by Romanians in Italy. Together with this expansion, the bank chose to end its activity in Cyprus and close its branch there as of the beginning of December, mainly because of the unfavorable Cypriot economic context. Banca Transilvania reported a stagnating profit in the first half of this year, of some EUR 41 million, while its assets were up 2 percent, to some EUR 6.8 billion. With non-performing loans at almost 12 percent of the bank's portfolio, the provisions for loans was slightly up to some EUR 497 million after the first half of the year. The total volume of loans was of EUR 4 billion after six months, and was mostly made of loans in RON, with a 64 percent rate of corporate loans. Deposits were at EUR 5.4 billion at the end of the first half of the year. Banca Transilvania's largest shareholders are the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), with 14.6 percent of the shares, and Bank of Cyprus, with 9.9 percent. The bank's shares are floating on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, where it has a capitalization of some EUR 620 million. editor@romania-insider.com