Halkbank forecasts loan growth
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Daily News with wires
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mart 13, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - State-controlled lender Halkbank is targeting loan growth above the sector average and is planning a $380 million credit agreement, the bank's chief executive said. Halkbank plans to agree to a loan of 300 million euros ($380 million) with the European Investment Bank. The loan will be signed soon, Hüseyin Aydın said at a press conference on Wednesday.
Halkbank has opened 11 branches so far in 2009. The bank is planning to open 25 more branches this year, Aydın said, adding that the bank hired more than 2,000 people last year. "The number of people who have begun working for us since the beginning of the crisis is 521. If we did not foresee a positive outlook in the near future, we would not have hired people while everyone else was laying off," he said.
"Real sector needs to relax," business daily Referans quoted Aydın as saying. "We are strong enough to buy out any large global bank that has a partner in Turkey." Starting from March 16, the bank will reduce interest rate of loans to businesses to a yearly 10 percent from 12 percent.
The bank’s full-year profit fell 10 percent in 2008, falling to 1.02 billion Turkish Liras ($580 million) from 1.13 billion liras in 2007. Total assets rose 27 percent year-on-year in 2008 to more than 51 billion liras.
"Real sector needs to relax," business daily Referans quoted Aydın as saying. "We are strong enough to buy out any large global bank that has a partner in Turkey." Starting from March 16, the bank will reduce interest rate of loans to businesses to a yearly 10 percent from 12 percent.
The bank’s full-year profit fell 10 percent in 2008, falling to 1.02 billion Turkish Liras ($580 million) from 1.13 billion liras in 2007. Total assets rose 27 percent year-on-year in 2008 to more than 51 billion liras.