Uniastrum Bank Boosts Business Volumes in Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg, Russia, March 01, 2012 --(PR.com)-- In 2011 Uniastrum’s Saint Petersburg branch tripled the size of its corporate credit portfolio, which weighed in at Rb 1.5 bn as of January 1, 2012. Meantime, its small business portfolio grew 56%. In the reporting year one of the branches’ biggest loan transactions was the opening of a credit line to West Bridge Hotel LLC, which manages the Novotel St. Petersburg Centre Hotel.

Last year also saw the Saint Petersburg branch almost double its retail client count, expanding its retail credit portfolio to Rb 1.8 bn, or 66%, as of year-start 2012. FY11 results also reveal bigger demand in the northern capital for Uniastrum’s U-Drive auto loan programs, which borrowers can use to buy new or secondhand vehicles, automatically receiving a credit card into the bargain with a spending limit equal to 10% of the principal. In 2011 the branch issued auto loans totaling over Rb 1.2, driving up its portfolio a healthy 70%.

In the first months of 2012, demand for Uniastrum’s personal loan options grew substantially. So far this year the Bank’s Saint Petersburg operation has disbursed 3.5-fold more personalloans than in the year-earlier period. In 2011 Uniastrum’s Access loan was regularly cited as being the best deal on Russia’s consumer lending market. Results for this February released by independent web portal Sravni.ru show the Bank’s Access option to be the cheapest personal loan to be had anywhere nationwide.

“Despite stiff competition from other banks in Saint Petersburg, specifically the large presence of Moscow and federal lenders, as well as major local players, last year we achieved good results, further solidifying our positions in the region,” notes Kirill Zhukov, manager of Uniastrum’s Saint Petersburg office. “In 2012 we aim to continue expanding all business segments, focusing particularly on building relationships with retail customers and the SME business community.”

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