The FINANCIAL — ProCredit Holding has totally purchased Commerce Bank’s stocks in ProCredit Bank – Georgia, which possessed 1.2% stocks of the bank. The purchasing of stocks was made according to the common strategy of ProCredit Group, the bank said. “This fact enables ProCredit Holding to become the main shareholder of all ProCredit Banks.”
Today ProCredit Bank – Georgia’s shareholders are ProCredit Holding (it possesses 92.6% stocks) and Internationale Projekt Consult GmbH with 7.4% stocks. ProCredit Bank – Georgia reported the financial results of 2007. The deposit portfolio has increased by 34% compared to the previous year.
“I can say that ProCredit Bank’s deposit portfolio is growing regularly according to the results of the first quarter of 2008 as well as those of 2007. The deposit portfolio consisted of USD 185 million in the first quarter of this year. This means that 200 thousand customers have made deposits in ProCredit Bank. Actually the deposit portfolio has increased by 34% compared to last year. Special attention is being paid to savings accounts, the number of deposits is already 75 thousand, which means that the volume of deposits is USD 16 million. This figure indicates the stable growth of the bank. The savings account allows customer to start saving without any limitations. The minimal amount and currency for opening a savings account is GEL, USD or EUR 5,” Philipp Pott, General Director of ProCredit Bank, declared to The FINANCIAL.
The bank plans to focus on increasing its net of branches throughout Georgia. In 2007, 9 branches were opened in Tbilisi and in the regions of Georgia. Today ProCredit Bank has 46 branches in the whole of Georgia.
“2007 was quite a successful year for the bank, which was mostly made obvious by the increase of branch numbers. In the previous year we opened an additional 9 branches throughout Georgia. At the moment ProCredit Bank is getting ready to open four branches. ProCredit Bank occupies third place according to the volume of branches. Last year we opened branches in Zugdidi, Ozurgeti and Poti. These were regions where ProCredit Bank was not represented,” Pott said.
“Growing the branch number will be one of the most important focuses of the bank in future years. ProCredit has expanded branches not only in the capital of Georgia but in other cities as well. We plan to enter Borjomi and Zestaphoni in 2008. PorCredit Bank’s focus on the branches is caused by the desire to be close to its customers, as we feel that demand on our products exists in every region of Georgia. Our aim is to increase our branch number up to one hundred in the coming years,” Pott added.
The volume of the Loan Portfolio of ProCredit Bank was increased by 31% in 2007 and consisted of USD 240 million. As the bank is focused on lending to very small, small and medium-sized enterprises, 90% of loans were less than USD 10 thousand.
“Stable growth was noticed in this direction in the first quarter of this year as well as in the previous 2007. We continue to be oriented on this segment. ProCredit Bank offers long term partnership to its customers. As for our profitability, we had USD 6.4 million in the previous 2007. This figure is 57% more than in the year 2006. This indicated the banks stability and strength. ProCredit Bank’s profit consisted of USD 4 million in the first quarter of this year,” Pott stated.
According to Lepp, ProCredit Bank has been represented on the Georgian market for 9 years already and they intend to have a long-term partnership in Georgia.
“According to the good financial indicators offered by ProCredit Bank Georgia, ProCredit Holding decided to increase the equity base of the bank, so it was increased by GEL 11 million,” Lepp said.
“The equity base of ProCredit Holding consists of USD 317 million, it has four strong holders. The owners of ProCredit Holding are: ICP – 25.0%, ICP-Invest – 12.9%, Doen – 21.4%, Kfw – 21.8% and others – 19.0%,” Lepp added.
“We plan to open 10 or 15 branches in a year. The second focus of ProCredit Bank is to increase the number of ATMs. Today the bank possesses 50 ATMs. I want to have 100 ATMs by the end of this year. Besides that, we want to offer POS terminal services to our clients. The bank first offered this service to customers three years ago. We plan to increase the number of POS terminals up to 1,500 by 2010, as the bank wants its clients not to have problems with their plastic cards. It will give them the chance to use it in many different places,” Pott added.
ProCredit Group consists of 22 banks operating in transition economies and developing countries in Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe. The youngest member of ProCredit Holding is the newly opened ProCredit Bank in Armenia.
ProCredit Group is led by ProCredit Holding AG, a holding company based in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, founded in 1998. The holding is not a bank. Rather, it is the main shareholder in the group of 22 banks. Its purpose is to provide strategic guidance and management for these banks, which are growing rapidly. Its role includes support for refinancing, human resources, management information systems (MIS), auditing, controlling, marketing, retail operations, risk management, staff training, and the core business of lending.
“18 thousand people were employed in our banks throughout the world in 2007. We plan to increase this number up to 35 thousand. Last year ProCredit Bank invested USD 12 million in staff trainings,” Lepp noted.
As Pott noted ProCredit Bank will not be oriented on consumer loans in 2008, as the bank plans to have long term cooperation with its customers.
“Consumer loans have already created problems for the American population. As a number of families are not able to pay consumer loans. So we think that such loans may bring such problems to Georgian families as well. ProCredit Bank Georgia is to remain a development-oriented credit institution. We offer excellent customer service and a wide range of credit products,” Pott said.
“We will be focused on lending to very small, small and medium-sized enterprises, as we are convinced that businesses create the largest number of jobs and make a vital contribution to the economies in which they operate. Unlike other banks, our credit institution does not promote consumer loans. Instead we focus on responsible lending, by building long-term partnership with our customers. Procredit Bank will be mostly oriented on Agro Business loans,” Pott added.
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