The drop in net profit was determined by a court-ordered provision of EUR153.3 million for its home loan savings subsidiary BCR Banca pentru Locuinte. The bank tax on assets introduced via emergency decree 114 in late 2018 chipped away EUR11 million of BCR Group’s earnings in 2019.
BCR’s operating revenues grew 4.1%, to EUR688 million, while operating expenses grew 1.2%, to EUR359 million resulting in an operating profit of EUR329 million, up 7.5% compared with 2018.
Net interest revenue grew 8.5%, to EUR428 million, driven by higher interest rates on the local market, higher customer deposits and lower financing costs.
Erste Group posted 8.7% growth in operating profit in 2019, to EUR2.97 billion.