It said net earnings declined under the impact of a net provision charge compared with a net release in the same period of last year, reflecting the worsened macroeconomic environment.
“The unprecedented sanitary crisis in which Romania and the entire world entered in the first quarter of the year continued to spill over in all economic areas, prompting for continuous adaptability. Looking forward, the economic rebound will rely massively on the execution of the relaunch policies adopted by the authorities and their effects on the pace of progress of production, on the exchange chains and on consumer behavior. Naturally, the Romanian banking system is also a key actor for the economic resilience and recovery,” said Francois Bloch, CEO of BRD Groupe Societe Generale.
BRD Group reported a net profit of RON738 million for the first nine months, down 40% on the year.
Total assets grew over 9% on the year in January-September and by 6% compared with end-2019 both at group level (RON61.2 billion) and the bank alone (RON59.2 billion).
BRD Group net loans, including leasing receivables, registered a slight growth of 0.2% compared with end-September 2019, to RON31.2 billion, supported by its SMEs loan portfolio (+7.3% YoY), especially through active participation in IMM Invest (RON700 million approved) and leasing (+17.5% YoY).
“If Q2 was marked by a sharp drop of individuals’ loans production in the lockdown context, the activity rebounded in Q3 with new consumer loans surpassing the pre-crisis levels. BRD has also an active participation in the IMM Invest program, with almost RON700 million of loans in favor of SMEs and small businesses approved by end of September,” said Bloch.
The bank’s net loan portfolio reached RON29.4 billion end-September, down 0.3% on the year.
Deposits from customers at group level reached RON48.1 billion end-September, up 9.4% compared with September 2019 and 4.7% compared with end-2019.
Retail deposits exhibited an accelerated growth pace (+9.1%), driven by larger inflows in individuals’ savings (+8.3% YoY). Corporate deposits registered double digit increase pushed by a strong growth in SME resources (+23.8% YoY). The ratio of net loans to deposits was 65% at end-September 2020, down by 6 percentage points versus end-September 2019.
At bank level, customer deposits stood at RON48.2 billion end-September, up 9.5% on the year.