HVB Bank doubled its profit last year, registering 40.7 million euros before taxing and the number of the bank's clients doubled on the retail segment, while the Private Banking division, which had been set up two years before, was managing approx. 83 million euros, ACT Media news agency reports.


At the same time, the number of companies that became HVB's clients increased from 1,300 to 1,760; the credits granted to these companies reached 729 million euros, a 39 percent increase against 2004.

Recently, HVB Bank Romania and Tiriac Bank's Boards of Directors approved a merger which is to lead to the setting up of a new bank, named "Tiriac HVB Commercial Bank."

Both institutions have already had the same majority shareholder - Bank Austria Creditanstalt; the combination of bank's operations through merger is made for the first time on the local banking market.

Based on the merger plans, Austria Bank will hold 49.94 percent of the new bank's shares while the businessman Ion Tiriac will control 45.15 percent through two companies that he owns.

Other individual shareholders hold 4.83 percent of the bank's shares.

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