The Romanian banking market concentrated last year around five institutions: Banca Comerciala Romana (BCR), Banca Romana pentru Dezvoltare - Groupe Societe Generale (BRD), Raiffeisen Bank, Unicredit-HVB Tiriac and Banca Transilvania, ACT Media news agency reports.

These five banks hold 63 percent of total assets in the banking system, compared to 58.2 percent in 2005.The deposits attracted by the five institutions represented in 2006 69.3 percent of total, up 1 percent against the previous figures.

The mentioned banks accumulated a 540 million euro net profit last year, representing 83 percent of total, slightly above the previous figures.The first five banks also were more profitable than the others, with percentages ranging from 1.3 percent (Raiffeisen Bank) to 2.25 percent for BRD, as against an average of 1.29 percent.

The first five banks did not succeed however to grant more credits to population in 2006, the smaller banks gaining ground with 32.8 percent market share in 2006, slightly above the previous figures.