ANKARA: Ali Fuat Erbil is set to take over as head of Turkey’s Garanti Bank, a person with knowledge of the matter said, asking not to be identified because the decision hasn’t been announced.
Erbil will replace Ergun Ozen as chief executive officer following approval by regulators earlier this month for Spain’s Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria to increase its holding in the Istanbul-based lender by 14.9 percent to 40 percent.
Erbil has worked at Garanti since 1997, and is presently in charge of financial institutions, corporate banking coordination, cash management and transaction banking, according to the company’s website.
Paul Tobin, a spokesman for BBVA, declined to comment when contacted by telephone, while Garanti didn’t immediately return calls seeking comment.
During Ozen’s 15-year tenure, “Garanti has been transformed into one of, if not the best retail bank in terms profitability and operational excellence,” said Aykut Ahlatcioglu, banks analyst at Istanbul-based broker Oyak.
For Erbil, “apart from sustaining the success, there could be new challenges” as CEO of Garanti, Ahlatcioglu said, citing the possibility of lower profits as the economy slows.
Garanti fell 0.2 percent to 8.16 liras at 4:18 p.m. in Istanbul trading. The bank is the largest on the exchange, making up 10 percent of the benchmark Borsa Istanbul 100 Index. The lender is expected to report net income of 967 million liras ($360 million) for the second quarter, according to the median estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, compared with 810.4 million liras a year earlier.
