Garanti Bank aims to remain pioneer in sector's transformation
Garanti Bank CEO Fuat Erbil said the turkish bank’s performance last year far exceeded expectations and looks forward to extending that success this year. “Last year was much more positive than expected, both for the country, the sector and Garanti,” Fuat Erbil told journalists in a recent meeting. “As witnessed by the positive outlook for key indicators and investor interest, 2017 was a successful year for Turkey. The banking sector’s performance excelled expectations as domestic demand increased and economic activity as a whole expanded”.
“In light of strategic priorities, project completion and our financial and non-financial indicators, 2017 was a successful year for us. Backed by its solid capital structure, Garanti continued to support the domestic economy”, Erbil explained. “We continued to lead the way in the sector’s transformation, improving our business model to achieve excellence in customer experience and enhancing our customized solutions”.
Garanti Bank CEO in his meeting with turkish journalists. - Garanti
Fuat Erbil pointed to an increase of over 20% last year in Garanti’s TL loan portfolio, supporting businesses, specially SMEs, as the engines of the Turkish economy while also consolidating leadership in retail lending amid fierce competition. To support lending, Garanti strengthened its deposit base, which enjoyed growth of 18%, well above the sector average. Garanti also had a good year both in terms of asset quality and capital indicators maintaining a healthy balance sheet while optimizing the use of capital to create the highest value for investors.
We aim to sustain pioneering sector’s transformation journey by improving our business model and excellence in customer experience.
Erbil was also upbeat about the Turkish economy’s prospects: “We foresee supportive policies continuing in 2018. Although we expect a slight slowdown in the economy, the outlook remains on track for strong growth of around 4.5%. The banking sector has had a good start to the year, and we expect TL loan growth to remain strong, albeit at a slightly lower pace. We see the deposit growth rate approaching that of loan growth. The positive indicators for the sector will remain in place this year, both in terms of capital and liquidity as well as risk management and asset quality.”
Fuat Erbil said Garanti will continue to dedicate its efforts in support of sustainable growth for Turkey and making the lives of its customers easier as its prime goal, based on offering the best experience and solutions.
Garanti Bank CEO underscored bank’s commitment to increasing the quality and speed of services as part of its ongoing transformation of its branch network and the business as a whole. “We will further simplify and improve our business processes and operations based on customer needs and expectations. In addition to our branches, we aim to incorporate the most advanced technologies into our digital channels to offer new solutions, increase the range of transactions and most importantly to continue to improve user experience”.