BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

09/01/2007

Czech financial group PPF unit HCFB to buy Belarussian Lorobank for EUR 4.8 mln

Czech financial group PPF is about to acquire small Belarusian Lorobank for EUR 4.8 mln in investment through its Russian consumer lending unit Home Credit and Finance Bank (HCFB), PPF told Interfax Tuesday.

"I can confirm that we are just about to close the deal," PPF spokesperson Dita Fuchsova told Interfax, adding that a press release will be issued later Tuesday.

The PPF investment should enable Lorobank to increase its basic capital to EUR 5.3 mln from EUR 500,000 and thus gain a universal banking license from the National Bank of Belarus. PPF is to use the Ukrainian bank as a stepping stone for further expansion in the country's consumer loans market.

PPF's Home Credit and Finance Bank operate on the Russian consumer credit market since 2002 and is one of the market leaders. The HCFB is a member of the Home Credit Group, which has been present on the Eastern European consumer loan market for more than eight years.

At end-December, Home Credit entered the Ukrainian market by completing acquisitions of two Ukrainian financial institutions - bank Agrobank and non-banking financial firm PrivatKredit.

The companies of the Home Credit Group, operating in the CEE region and Central Asia, in 2005 granted loans with a combined principal of USD 2.1 bln.

PPF Group - which includes PPF and Home Credit Group, a newly-created Czech insurance holding that includes leading insurer Ceska Pojistovna - managed assets exceeding USD 10 bln as of year-end 2005.

Lorobank ranks as the 26th-biggest bank out of 29 existing licensed banks in Belarus.

Source:

http://wiadomosci.onet.pl/1462274,10,1,0,120,686,item.html