For Romania, Erste reported a net profit attributable to the shareholder of EUR43.8 million, compared with EUR177.7 million in the same period in 2018, down 75% on the year. The result is impacted by a EUR150 million provision constituted after home loan savings bank BCR – Banca pentru Locuinte (BpL) lost a lawsuit at the Romanian Constitutional Court.
Net interest income was EUR319 million in January-June 2019, up 9.5% on the year, and net fee and commission income reached EUR122 million, up 7.1% on the year.
Operating profit was EUR242 million, up 5.9% on the year.
The cost/income ratio was 52.5%, from 53.2% in the same period a year ago.
Erste Group reported a net profit of EUR1.22 billion in January-June 2019, similar with the level reported in the same period in 2018, and operating income of EUR5.3 billion, up nearly 6% on the year. Net interest income increased – mainly in the Czech Republic, but also in Romania and Hungary – to EUR3.517.4 million (+4.3%; EUR3.372.0 million). Net fee and commission income rose to EUR1.484.3 million (+3.7%; EUR1.430.7 million) on the back of payment services, from lending and asset management. Loans and advances to customers rose to EUR157.8 billion (+5.7%; EUR149.3 billion). On the liability side, deposits from banks increased to EUR19.9 billion (EUR17.7 billion) and customer deposits grew again – most notably in the Czech Republic and in Austria – to EUR172.5 billion (+6.1%; EUR162.6 billion). The loan-to-deposit ratio stood at 91.5% (91.8%).