Romanian lender Banca Transilvania sees profit up 35% in 2011

Romanian lender Banca Transilvania’s net profit was EUR 31 million ( RON 131.8 million ) in 2011, up 35 percent compared to 2010, mainly due to the bank’s revenues from interest, further growth in lending, lower net expenses with provisions, and costs optimization, according to the bank. Banca Transilvania’s gross profit was of EUR 43.8 million ( RON 185.7 million ), up 38 percent over the previous year, while the net expenses with provisions went down 17 percent. The bank’s balance sheets also increased by 19.2 percent, to around EUR 6 billion (RON 25.7 billion). The bank opened almost 20 bank agencies last year. Robert Rekkers, who has run Romanian lender Banca Transilvania for the last nine years, has recently stepped down as general manager and will be replaced by Peter Franklin, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) representative on the bank’s board, who will act as interim manager. Dutchman Rekkers joined Banca Transilvania in 2002, initially for a four-year term, which was extended up until the present. He will no longer be a member of the bank’s board either. Read more about it here. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com (photo source: Romania-Insider.com)