Bankas Snoras
With the largest customer service network in Lithuania, 10 regional branches, 212 minibanks and 307 ATMs, Bankas Snoras is strengthening its leading role in retail banking. With net profits almost doubling in 2005, plus a 70.5% increase in assets and a RoE of up to 17.7%, Snoras is performing well, especially in retail, where it has more than 790,000 clients.
The bank, which is part of the international Russian-owned Conversbank Financial Group, has mostly concentrated on the improvement of its operations in Lithuania but now it has plans for international development. According to bank president Raimondas Baranauskas, the acquisition of a controlling stake (83.0%) in Latvia’s oldest and largest bank, Latvijas Krajbanka, has allowed Snoras to diversify its business in the Baltic states. Snoras plans to apply its retail banking expertise in neighbouring countries and to open a representative office in Brussels in the near future.
Mr Baranauskas, says that results and recognition by The Banker perfectly illustrate the bank’s obvious growth. “The bank’s profits have tripled over the past year; the loan portfolio has grown by 70% and deposits by more than 71%. Our vigorous performance in the retail banking market and our strategy [targeting the business sector, resulted in the creation of] new products as well as the establishment of new bank divisions in Lithuania. To improve the quality of the customer service, we’ve increased the number of employees by 15%,” he says.
