La société générale et BNP-Paribas prennent pied sur le marché de la consommation en Russie

Ce qui est excellent est que pour d'autres projets, la même banque expliquera que la Russie est beaucoup trop risquée (ils ont perdu combien en 1998 ?). Visiblement, le prêt à des particuliers est mieux sécurisé en Russie que le prêt à des entreprises ;-))

Today’s Vedomosti reports that Société Générale is forming a joint venture (JV) with Baring Vostok Capital Partners, a private equity fund, to expand into consumer finance. The terms of the deal have not been announced. The deal marks the third such move in the past month by foreign banks and consumer finance companies looking to cash in on Russia’s consumer boom and the high margins and massive potential growth in the consumer lending market. Previously, BNP Paribas’s consumer finance arm, Cetelem, acquired a controlling stake in Russian Standard Bank, and, earlier this month, GE Capital acquired Delta Bank. The JV plans to lend USD20 million by the end of the year, particularly in the small but expanding Internet shopping segment of the market.

Consumer lending in Russia totalled USD9.8 billion in 2003, and we forecast it will reach USD19.6 billion by year-end 2004, which would still represent only 3.7% of GDP, well below East European averages of 20-30%, rising to USD72.4 billion in 2008.