Emporiki Bank Bulgaria plans to double its network to 40 branches and four business centres targeting small and medium-sized firms, raise capital by 20 million euro and expand its retail business by the end of next year, Christos Katsanis, head of international development division at Emporiki Group, told a news conference on May 8.

The conference was attended by the senior managers of Emporiki Bank Bulgaria, its parent bank Emporiki Bank Greece, and Credit Agricole, the group holding a majority stake in the Greek financial institution. Among them were Jean-Frederic de Leusse, head of Emporiki Bank board of directors and head of international development at Credit Agricole; Francois Pinchon, in charge for Eastern Europe at Credit Agricole; Panagiotis Varelas, director general of the retail banking division at Emporiki Bank Group; and Emporiki Bank Bulgaria CEO Athanasios Petropoulos.

The aggressive push into the Balkans forms part of a five-year business plan endorsed by Emporiki Group shortly after its takeover by France’s second-largest financial institution Credit Agricole in 2006. It mainly focuses on strengthening the bank’s positions through organic growth in the markets where it is already present.

Namely, the board of directors of Emporiki Bank Group plans to raise the capital of its arms in Albania, Bulgaria, Cyprus and Romania by 60 million euro, as well as boost the volume of their assets to 600 million euro.

Bulgarian operations, in particular, are set to grow in two stages, Catsanis said. During the first stage, the bank will ensure that it has the strong management team, a single IT system and a strong banking network.

The second stage will entail structural changes. From a bank targeting mainly small and medium-sized enterprises, Emporiki Bank Bulgaria will gradually grow into a universal bank with a heavy emphasis on the client, as opposed to its current strategy of offering individual and non-related products.

The strategy of segmentation of services by client needs will translate into creating consumer finance, leasing, asset management and factoring product lines, Varelas said.

For the time being, the bank plans no growth through acquisitions in Bulgaria, nor the set-up of any specialised joint ventures with Credit Agricole, as has been the case in Greece.

Currently, Emporiki Bank Bulgaria runs 18 branch offices and as of March 2008 had a market share of 0.3 per cent. Plans are by the middle of next year to control 0.5 per cent of the banking market.