INFORMER Α.Ε.

 Contract signed for implementation of a new core banking system and integrated solutions developed by INFORMER Financial

Athens Greece, 7th December 2005 – INFORMER Financial today announced that it has been selected by Libra Bank as the prime contractor for its new core banking system to support the bank’s expansion strategy.

The management team at Libra Bank plan to reap significant benefits from investing in the international core banking solution proposed by INFORMER Financial. The most essential of these being to ensure that Libra Bank has the enabling technology in place to underpin the bank’s aggressive 5 year business plan and strategy for organic growth.

The initial phase of this plan involves Libra Bank doubling its current branch network from 14 to 30 branches during the course of 2006. The new system will offer the required scalability to facilitate this expansion whilst providing the bank with a major “time-to-market” advantage for launching new products and services into the Romanian marketplace.

Andrew Ruffell, Deputy CEO, INFORMER Financial said “We are honoured to have been entrusted by the management of Libra Bank as prime contractor to license and deliver a fully integrated, turnkey solution to the bank. Our solution leverages a best-of-breed systems architecture that we have based upon T24™, the market leading core banking software from TEMENOS. Running on IBM’s hardware and ORACLE’s RDBMS, INFORMER Financial will implement TEMENOS T24™ in tight integration with Smart Reporter™, Loan Originator 24™, and ARMONIA ERP. This configuration will support Libra Bank’s expansion plans and enable the bank to respond rapidly to market trends and increasing client demands.”

TEMENOS T24™ is recognised as being one of the most technologically advanced core banking systems available in the world today with more than 400 clients across 111 countries. Additionally, the bank has selected to integrate three best-of-breed software components developed by INFORMER Financial that further expand the capabilities of T24™:

• SMART REPORTER - for Romanian regulatory reporting requirements
• LOAN ORIGINATOR 24 - for end-to-end retail and corporate lending including credit scoring and rating capabilities
• ARMONIA ERP – for management of the fixed asset lifecycle

Utku Ogrendil, Vice President, Libra Bank said: “We had a strategic objective to select a new fully integrated core banking system before the year end which we plan to implement during 2006. We took a decisive step forward in this process by signing contracts with INFORMER Financial based upon a combination of critical factors. These included a successful implementation track record and experience replacing core banking systems, both in Romania and internationally. Local support in Bucharest and a proven Romanian banking platform combined with 10+ years experience implementing TEMENOS products made INFORMER Financial the partner of choice for Libra Bank.”

This decision comes at an important time in the evolution of banking within the Romanian marketplace generally, as the country moves closer to full EU membership currently planned for 2007 according to the EU Accession Treaty signed in April this year. Andrew Ruffell, Deputy CEO, INFORMER Financial said: “We view Romania as an extremely important market within our industry which is looking closely to the country as a benchmark for growth and development amongst the EU accession countries.”

- ENDS -

 About INFORMER Financial

INFORMER Financial is a TEMENOS authorised international system integrator providing a full range of services from initial implementation through to post-implementation support. The company has undertaken more than 30 core banking system replacements and project implementations and offers a comprehensive ranges of services including: system upgrades; system health-checks; performance tuning; system outsourcing; outsourcing of help desk services; on-site maintenance, training and support. The company specialises in the integration of best-of-breed banking software and the provision of turnkey solutions.

INFORMER Financial is part of the INFORMER Group of Companies founded in 1979 and which is listed on the Greek Stock Exchange with offices in Athens, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Romania, Albania, Serbia & Montenegro, Luxembourg and Egypt. For more information about INFORMER Financial please visit: www.informerfinancial.com

About Libra Bank

Since 2003, Libra Bank belongs to the American investment group New Century Holdings (NCH), one of the most important foreign investors in Romania. NCH has invested over 2 billion dollars in Central and Eastern Europe, out of which over 200 million dollars have been invested in Romania. With the take-over of Libra Bank 2 years ago, a re-launch of the bank’s activity was initiated. Since 2004 Libra has benefited from the efforts put in the restructuring and is showing one of the highest growth rates in the Romanian banking system in 2005. Compared to end of December 2004, loan volumes grew in 2005 by 180%, advancing from USD 18.05 million to USD 50.5 million in October 2005. The deposits volumes increased from USD 27.38 million in December 2004 to USD 67.1 million in October 2005 (+ 145%). Concerning the development for total assets, Libra Bank has reached in October 2005 a value of USD 92.4 million, increasing with 108% vs. December 2004 (USD 44.38 million).

For more information about Libra Bank please visit: www.librabank.ro

contacts:

For INFORMER Financial:
George Agioutantis, Commercial Director
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Tel: +30 210 9009 208

For Libra Bank
Alina Vasile, PR Officer
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Tel: +40 (021) 208.80.23