Eurasia highlights in the first quarter
- Year-on-year comparison affected by the incorporation of Garanti in March 2011.
- Garanti closed 2011 as the leading Turkish bank in terms of earnings and profitability.
- CNCB increased its earnings in 2011 by 43%.
Industry Trends
The most relevant events affecting this business area in the first quarter of 2012 are listed below:
- The economic dichotomy between the central countries and the peripheral European countries remains and determines the performance of banking institutions in the area. However, recent measures adopted by the ECB have managed to lower tensions in the markets and reduce financing costs.
- The EBA’s capital recommendations have led the sector to undertake recapitalization processes such as capital increases or deleveraging operations, aimed basically at decreasing the volume of toxic assets and reducing exposure in the wholesale business.
- The Turkish Central Bank has maintained interest rates unchanged, although it has taken some actions to make sure that inflation is kept at the target levels.
- The Chinese authorities have implemented a number of initiatives to control any possible imbalance in the real estate market. These measures are focused basically on preventing a hard landing of the local economy.
