OTP Romanian unit to expand branch network -MTI

Hungarian OTP Bank's Romanian unit plans to increase the number of its branches from 106 to about 200 in five years, expanding either organically orvia acquisitions, OTP Bank Romania CEO Laszlo Diosi said.

Diosi was cited by Hungarian national news agency MTI assaying in Bucharest that the bank's original goal was to achieve4 to 5 percent market share, but fierce competition in the Romanian market has limited it to 1 to 2 percent based on total assets.

He said OTP's Romanian unit now has 200,000 corporate and retail clients and had total assets worth more than 367 billion Hungarian forints ($1.94 billion) at the end of 2008.

OTP Bank, Hungary's biggest commercial bank, entered the Romanian market in 2004 with the acquisition of RoBank.

OTP shares traded at 4,902 forints at 0848 GMT, up 1.2 percent, while the official BUX index was up 1 percent. ($1=188.93 Hungarian Forint)