Banque Générale du Luxembourg
As the only Luxembourg bank with strong profit growth in 2002, Banque Générale du Luxembourg (BGL) is the judges’ clear choice for the award. A successful expansion strategy was also a factor in the decision.
Despite the weak European economy, BGL, a specialist in asset management, last year boosted net profit by almost 28%, while maintaining an impressive cost-to-income ratio of 51.5%.
The bank made a major acquisition in 2002, buying Fastnet, the Luxembourg-based asset management unit of Fortis Bank. The move consolidates BGL’s lead position in Luxembourg’s lucrative asset management industry. Elsewhere on the expansion front, BGL acquired the Strasbourg-based entity SADE and opened a business centre in the German cities of Trier and Saarbrücken.
To take advantage of the growing local pensions market, BGL also entered a 50-50 bancassurance venture with Fortis Bank in 2002. One of the venture’s first pension savings products has already attracted 3000 buyers.
The bank’s sophisticated IT, in place since 1998, allows it to bundle banking products and service offerings into “packages”. One typical package rewards customers with discounts at restaurants and hotels for keeping an account at BGL and using its credit cards.
