Pristine, 19th of January 2007 - The senior managers of the most successful bank in Kosovo, ProCredit Bank, have stated today that the Bank has successfully concluded 2006 with a total of assets of 434 million euros.
Philip Sigwart, director general of ProCredit Bank, said that bearing in mind the strong growth of the loans portfolio last year, our shareholders have increased the bank’s capital to 24 million euros.
Another feature that Sigwart highlighted was the growth of bank products and services which in turn also led to the increase of staff numbers (over 25%). More precisely, only in 2006 ProCredit Bank has employed over 170 people which lead to a total 730 ProCredit Bank employees.
“Consequently, the successful results of the bank made us increase our presence in various regions in Kosovo, and with 10 new branches in 2006 our branch network grew to a total of 30 branches. And so the results of the previous year make us optimistic about the financial future of the Kosovar market! And this certainly obliges us to continue our commitment toward the clients of our bank!,” said Sigwart.
“By the end of 2007 we plan to open another 10 branches and reach the total of 40 bank branches,” added Sigwart.
Philip Sigwart, who successfully managed ProCredit Bank in Georgia for over 4 years, has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of ProCredit Bank in Kosovo in August 2006.
Deputy Chief Executive Officer Florin Lila mentioned the rapid growth of the loans portfolio in 2006, and told the media that there is still an ongoing high demand by the businesses and this reflects on the data of loans that were issued this year, with a growth scale of 39% compared to last year.
“ProCredit Bank commenced its activities in 2000 by giving out loans. So far, ProCredit Bank has given a total amount of 650 million euros in loans for 112.000 clients, whereas during 2006 ProCredit Bank allowed above 240 million for up to 40, 000 clients. And if we refer to this year’s statistics, loan portfolio reaches 237.7 million.! So if we compare this data to the previous year one can clearly see a rapid growth of the loans portfolio,” said Lila.
Lila also said that starting from December, ProCredit Bank has launched the most serious offer in the bank industry in the country! Now our clients can take business loans for up to 10 years or 120 months! With this offer, ProCredit has provided a longer duration of loans which helps the clients to pay smaller monthly rates and make long-term investment plans.
Starting from this month, we will also start giving our loans for buying houses for up to 15 years, a new opportunity for our clients that wish to plan their future.
Ilir Aliu, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of ProCredit Bank, spoke of the bank’s achievements in the area of banking services. He considers 2006 to be one of the most successful years of the bank in its seven-year operation in Kosovo.
“The deposits of our clients now number 390 million euros or 42% of the total deposits in the banking system in Kosovo. This makes us the most reliable and successful bank in the banking industry in Kosovo,” Aliu highlighted.
“ProCredit Bank, as part of its strategy, has continuously focused its efforts in promoting a savings culture into the general public as we believe that it brings stability to the households finances and can generate overall economic growth’ said Aliu.
During the conference, Aliu brought up the launching of the ProCommerce card which has made ProCredit Bank the first bank to offer such a debit card for businesses, and the next reasonable and logical step, according to Aliu, will be to increase these services by introducing the internationally-recognized business cards Master and VISA.
Aliu also pointed out the possibility of Overdraft up to 300% of the salary through bank packages such as ProDynamic, ProDirekt and ProDynamic Plus. This offer, the first of its kind in Kosovo, is dedicated to all clients that have regular incomes (salaries, pensions, etc) over the last three months at over 120 euros.
However the number of ATMs all over Kosovo has reached 55 thus giving our clients 24/7 access to their funds, and the number of POS terminals has reached 1.100!
Nevertheless the executive management of ProCredit Bank has highly appreciated the prizes “Best bank for 2006” and the best bank in Kosovo for assets in 2006, awarded by Finance Central Europe.
