| ProCredit Bank Profits after Tax Totalled USD 6.3 M for first 8 months 2009 |
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28/09/2009 11:48 (54 Day 01:15 minutes ago) | |||||
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The FINANCIAL -- ProCredit Bank earned USD 6.3 million profit after tax in the first 8 months of 2009. As of August 2009, ProCredit Bank’s assets totalled USD 412 million. According to Philipp Pott, General Director of ProCredit Bank, for the full year of 2008 the Bank’s profits after tax equalled USD 8.1 million.
According to officials of ProCredit Bank in the next year they are going to add about 15 new branches. They plan to finish construction of a new head office in Tbilisi by the year 2011, a project which has an investment volume of around USD 20 million.
“ProCredit is the only bank that did not participate in the irresponsible landing boom we saw here in recent years. Instead we built up the reputation of a responsible and transparent partner for our clients,” officials of ProCredit Bank say.
“In the last ten years, we have invested a lot in building a bank that we hope makes a real difference in Georgia. We have been the first to support very small and small businesses with our loan products, a target group that had been neglected by the banking sector for many years,” Philipp Pott says.
ProCredit Bank is one of the leading banks in Georgia; focused on lending to very small, small and medium-sized enterprises and offering a full range of banking services to private individuals and legal entities.
The Bank was established in 1999 and as of today comprises 58 branches throughout the country. The Bank is a member of the International ProCredit Group, successfully operating in 11 countries in Eastern Europe, 7 countries in Latin America and 4 countries in Africa. ProCredit Hoding AG, Frankfurt am Main.ProCredit Bank has BB- rating from the international agency Fitch ratings , which is the best and highest possible rating in Georgia.
“As a result of its careful approach, the Bank was almost not affected at all by the impact of the global financial and economic crisis. In Georgia, over the last twelve months, ProCredit Bank increased its market share from 8% to 10% in both deposits and loans and the profitability of the Bank remained strong,” Bank Officials note.
According to ProCredit officials, one of the major differences in the development of the banking sector in Georgia is that ProCredit did not participate in the consumer lending and credit card boom that Georgia experienced over the last four years.
“ProCredit instead tried to promote a culture of savings in Georgia that would allow people to realize their financial plans without risking to become over-indebted as is the case nowadays with a growing number of households in Georgia that face difficulties in paying back their bank debt in the current economic environment,” ProCredit Bank says.
“From the very beginning, ProCredit distanced itself from the common approach of Consume Today, Pay Tomorrow that was proclaimed by the majority of banks in Georgia. Also in 2005, ProCredit Bank was the first bank in Georgia that offered savings from an amount of just GEL 5, inviting people with low income to the Bank,” Bank Officials note.
The long term focus of ProCredit Banks is also reflected in their HR policy.
“Back in 2005, all types of performance-based bonuses were abolished in the ProCredit Group after coming to the conclusion that such incentives lead to distorted outcomes, a topic currently heavily discussed all over the world in the context of analyzing the reasons behind the global financial downturn. Instead the group invested strongly in its training capacities, which allow employees to grow professionally and see long term perspectives with ProCredit,” ProCredit Officials note.
“We invest EUR 12 million in staff training worldwide annually,” DR. Claus-Peter Zeitinger, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of ProCredit Holding AG (Frankfurt, Germany), says.
“If you let us we will stay here forever,” DR. Claus-Peter Zeitinger said at a press conference last week dedicated to the 10th anniversary of its operations in Georgia.
Written By Tako Khelaia
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