Banco Azteca Continues Solid Expansion, Inaugurates Operations In El Salvador

-El Salvador President Mauricio Funes and Grupo Salinas Founder and Chairman Ricardo Salinas cut inaugural ribbon-

-Strong Banco Azteca growth perspectives are further strengthened-

-Helps stimulate consumption capacity and the well-being of thousands of Salvadorian families-

MEXICO CITY, Nov. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Grupo Elektra, S.A. de C.V. (BMV: ELEKTRA*; Latibex: XEKT), Latin America's leading financial services company and specialty retailer announced today that its subsidiary Banco Azteca inaugurated bank operations in El Salvador, with 29 branches throughout the country.

In an event that was attended by El Salvador President Mauricio Funes, Grupo Salinas Founder and Chairman Ricardo Salinas expressed that Banco Azteca El Salvador operations will improve the quality of life of large segments of the population at the bottom of the pyramid that currently do not have access to financial services.

Banco Azteca El Salvador will help to extend the consumption capacity through accessible personal loans, will increase the family savings with deposit products such as Guardadito savings accounts and Inversion Azteca time deposit accounts, and will offer means of payment which have proved useful for this segment, as well as operating hours from 8:00 am to 7:00 pm, seven days of the week.

El Salvador offers important growth opportunities for Banco Azteca, due to the dynamism of the economy, as well as of the population's socio-demographic structure, which closely mirrors Banco Azteca's target market.

Banco Azteca has a history of successful operations and solid expansion in Latin America. Banco Azteca El Salvador will offer additional strength to the robust strategy of the company's growth, as the bank operations have done in Mexico, Brazil, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, and Peru, which have almost 2,000 points of sale.

Banco Azteca has more than nine million active loan accounts and more than eight million deposit accounts in Latin America, with solid and dynamic performance.

Company Profile

Grupo Elektra (www.grupoelektra.com.mx) is Latin America's leading financial services company and specialty retailer. The Group operates close to 2,000 points of sale in Mexico, Brazil, Guatemala, Honduras, Peru, Panama, El Salvador and Argentina. Grupo Elektra also sells and markets its consumer finance, banking and financial products and services through Banco Azteca branches located in Mexico, Brazil, Panama, Guatemala, Honduras, Peru and El Salvador.

Grupo Elektra is a Grupo Salinas company (www.gruposalinas.com), a group of dynamic, fast-growing, and technologically advanced companies focused on creating shareholder value, contributing to build the middle class of the countries in which they operate and improving society through excellence. Created by Mexican entrepreneur Ricardo B. Salinas (www.ricardosalinas.com), Grupo Salinas operates as a management development and decision forum for the top leaders of member companies. The companies include TV Azteca (www.irtvazteca.com), Azteca America (www.aztecaamerica.com), Grupo Elektra (www.grupoelektra.com.mx), Banco Azteca (www.bancoazteca.com.mx), Afore Azteca (www.aforeazteca.com.mx), Seguros Azteca (www.segurosazteca.com.mx) and Grupo Iusacell (www.iusacell.com.mx). Each of the Grupo Salinas companies operates independently, with its own management, board of directors and shareholders. Grupo Salinas has no equity holdings. However, 6 member companies share a common vision, values and strategies for achieving rapid growth, superior results and world-class performance.

Except for historical information, the matters discussed in this press release are forward-looking statements and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Other risks that may affect Grupo Elektra and its subsidiaries are identified in documents sent to securities authorities.

    Investor Relations

    Bruno Rangel                 Fernanda Gonzalez-Rul
    Grupo Salinas                Grupo Elektra
    Tel. +52 (55) 1720-9167      Tel. +52 (55) 1720-1339
    jrangelk@gruposalinas.com.mx fgrul@elektra.com.mx

    Press Relations

    Tristan Canales               Daniel McCosh
    Grupo Salinas                 Grupo Salinas
    Tel. +52 (55) 1720-1441       Tel. +52 (55) 1720-0059
    tcanales@gruposalinas.com.mx  dmccosh@gruposalinas.com.mx

SOURCE Grupo Elektra, S.A. de C.V.