Austria’s Erste-held BCR, the largest bank in Romania, posted 574.6 million lei (EUR129 million) net profit in the first half, slightly lower than in the year-ago period.
Second most profitable bank was Banca Transilvania, the third local bank by assets. The Cluj-based lender posted RON458.3 million net profit in the first half, 2.4 times higher than in the first half of 2015.
BRD-SocGen posted the third highest profit, about RON382 million, up almost 65% on the year-ago period. It kept its second place by assets.
BCR, BRD-SocGen and Banca Transilvania’s profits stood at more than RON1.4 billion together, almost 60% of the net profit of the entire local banking system, RON2.4 billion.
Fourth most profitable lender was ING Bank Romania, which posted RON278 million net profit, up 79%, followed by UniCredit Bank, with RON226 million, up 159% on the year-ago period.
Despite being fourth by assets in Romania’s banking system, Raiffeisen ranked sixth by profit in the first half, after being the most profitable bank in the country in 2012-2014. Its first half profit stood at RON162 million, 25% lower than in the corresponding period of last year.
The rise in lenders’ profits was driven, among others, by the improvement in portfolio quality and the operations, as new loan portfolios increased.
In all, 27 banks posted profit in the first half, while nine were in the red, according to central bank data.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)