Emporiki plans a comeback as one of the market leaders
Emporiki Bank, acquired by France’s Credit Agricole (CA) last year, yesterday unveiled its restructuring plans at a press conference by Chairman Jean-Frederic de Leusse and CEO Antonis Krontiras. The two executives announced the results of the program for the first 100 days of management by the French group, and set out the next stages for the 500 and 1,500 days to follow, for the completion of the bank’s transformation course. In the first 100 days, they said, Emporiki has completed the harmonization of its operation and governance model with that of CA, the application of a special program for the improvement of the efficiency of sales, the concession of its non-banking holdings and the creation of a more flexible organizational structure. «Three independent auditors, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young and the Internal Auditing services of CA have examined in depth, working in parallel, the portfolio of loans and reached a unanimous decision on what we should do,» said Krontiras. «Today our balance sheet is absolutely healthy and any further adjustments will be made in the context of the new regulatory requirements [according to the Basel III accord],» he added. Emporiki will now concentrate on regaining its share in the banking market, with Krontiras saying that within 1,500 days the bank will have fully regained its competitiveness vis-a-vis rival banks. More details will be announced in the business plan for 2007-2009, expected at end-April. Krontiras also said the sale agreement for Phoenix Metrolife was signed yesterday with Groupama International, for -95 million. He added that a voluntary retirement scheme at Emporiki is being examined, but it will only be specifically focused rather than general. De Leusse said Credit Agricole will fully support the subsidiary banks of Emporiki abroad (Albania, Bulgaria, Romania and Cyprus) and will proceed with their development.
