Expansion of Hypo-Alpe-Adria group in Serbia – €650m worth of investments

Hypo Alpe-Adria-Group, with total investments of over €650 in 2004, is listed among the biggest financial corporations in in Serbia.

Hypo Alpe-Adria-Bank finished the year 2004 with balance sum of €360m, which is even four times more than at the end of 2003. Thus, it became the sixth biggest bank in Serbia with market share of 5%, whereas it took fifth place in scope of investments of over €290mo. Amount of €225m of direct investments from Austrian headquarters of this bank must be added to the aforementioned sum. Over 80% of total investments are credits approved to economy, while the rest was intended for citizens. Deposits of the clients at the end of 2004 amounted to €78.2m and the net profit of the bank exceeded amount of €6m.

According to the plan, balance sum should on December 31, 2005 exceed amount of €570m, whereas the number of employees should rise to 520.

Intensive expansion of business network of Hypo Alpe-Adria-Bank in Serbia will be continued. Next to present 13 branches in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Subotica, Šabac, Čačak and Niš, Hypo Alpe-Adria-Bank will open branches in Sombor, Apatin, Vrbas, Bačka Palanka, Bečej, Zrenjanin, Kikinda, Vršac, Smederevo, Novi Pazar and Kruševac, as well as three more branches in Belgrade and one more in Novi Sad.

The operations of Hypo Alpe-Adria Leasing was also very successful. Its total scope of financing at the end of 2004 had reached €120m, in comparison with €30m at the end of 2003, said the member of Management of that company Vladimir Jamšek.

Hypo Alpe-Adria Leasing has market share of 40% in Serbia of total scope of deals in field of financial leasing. Financing of procurement of motor vehicles still has position number one in this company with 69% share in the entire operations and 78% of clients are juristic persons. Hypo Alpe-Leasing plans to open new branches in 2005 in Šabac, Sombor, Vršac and Zrenjanin, as well as introduction of operative leasing for movable and immobile subjects, as well as financing of real estates.

Hypo Alpe-Adria Consultants Company, which deals with investments, first of all in the field of real estates, increased the value of the investments in 2004 from 2.5 to over €12m. Within next two years, investments should exceed amount of €40m, said the member of the Management Boris Ignjatović.

Besides the completion of business building Hypo Plaza in Novi Beograd, which is now seat of Hypo Alpe-Adria-Group in Serbia, the contracts have been signed on construction of business complex Hypo Boulevard in Novi Sad and the lot has been bought on the location of former restaurant «Tri lista duvana» in Belgrade, which will be probably used as building site for construction of business center or hotel. Construction on both locations should be completed until 2007.

The works on construction of business center Hypo Hill in Žarkovo commenced in November. This facility will be seat of the branch of Hypo Alpe-Adria-Bank. The completion of the works is planned to take place in the middle of this year. The start of the construction of marina at the Montenegrin Seaside, luxrious housing project in center of Belgrade and further strategic procurements of land were in the pipeline, Ignjatović added.

The youngest company in the group, Hypo Alpe-Adria Securities, was put into operation in June 2004 and, already before the end of December, it achieved scope of operations worth €17m and is among the first ten broker companies in trade in stocks and bonds at Belgrade Stock Exchange, said the member of the Management of that company Svetlana Krstić. Basic activity of this company are broker deals in the name of the clients and in their own name and other activities related to securities, as well as provision of advice on takeover and corporate strategy for entrance to market.

In the second half of this year Hypo Alpe-Adria-Banka, Hypo Alpe-Adria Leasing, Hypo Alpe-Adria Consultants and Hypo Alpe-Adria Securities will move into the new premises in renovated Business Center «Ušće», announced the member of the Management of Hypo Alpe-Adria-Bank Markus Ferstl.

Four companies that represented results of their operations today are part of international financial group with headquarters in Klagenfurt (Austria), founded in 1896. Hypo Alpe-Adria-Group has over 200 branches in Austria, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro, Liechtenstein and Germany. It got the highest safety marks from two biggest international agencies for evaluation of safety of operations, Standard & Poors and Moody`s. The Group is owned by two stockholders: Austrian Province of Koruška and Insurance Company Grazer Wechselseitige Versicherung (GRAWE).