Raiffeisen’s Romanian engagement prospers
Raiffeisen Bank Internationals (RBI) Romanian affiliate has managed to increase its profit by more than 10 per cent.RBI said today (Weds) its department in the Eastern European (EE) country achieved profits of 83 million Euros in 2010, up by 12 per cent in a year.The Viennese institute which handles the international operations of Raiffeisenzentralbank (RZB) added that the value of assets managed by Raiffeisen Bank Romania rose by nine per cent to 5.11 billion Euros.Raiffeisen has around two million private and business clients in Romania, according to the Romanian Times. The news platform also reported that the number of branches declined to 540 in 2010 (2009: 559).Meanwhile, RZB boss Walter Rothensteiner has made clear his bank had no interest in taking over Hypo Group Alpe Adria (HGAA) or Volksbank International (VBI).The banker said he saw “no sense” in acquiring HGAA which was nationalised in 2009. Rothensteiner added RZB was represented in all countries where Volksbank AGs (ÖVAG) international operations subsidiary firm VBI was active.Rothensteiners announcements came shortly after Bank Austria (BA) CEO Willibald Cernko refused to rule out that his institute may negotiate acquiring HGAAs Austrian department.