“The economic environment in the first quarter of 2013 remained difficult and this translated into weak demand for banking products and services,” BRD said in its financial report.
In the first three months of 2012, BRD reported a net profit of RON83 million.
The lender said net banking revenue fell 10.5% on the year to RON687 million in the January-March period, largely due to a 17.1% decline in net interest margins.
Gross operating profit decreased 13.8% to RON373 million.
First-quarter risk costs rose 4.2% to RON350 million, from RON336 million in the year-earlier period.
“Net risk costs were heavily influenced by the adverse economic conditions in the first quarter,” BRD said.
It said total loans increased 2.1% year-on-year to RON34.97 billion in the first three months of 2013, while overall deposits were up 3% to RON32.54 billion.
The bank’s loan-to-deposit ratio slid to 94.5% at the end of March, from 99.6% in the same period of 2012.
French financial group Societe Generale is the bank’s main shareholder, with a 60.16% stake.
On the Bucharest bourse Friday, BRD closed up 0.13% at RON7.79 a share. (EUR1=RON4.3072)