He said credit-loss expenses doubled on the quarter to 2.08 billion lei (EUR464 million) at the end of December. The higher costs were due to a series of unexpected insolvencies of companies, as well as to a clean-up process of the bank’s loan portfolio.
On the other hand, the bank’s coverage ratio of non-performing loans improved to 69% at the end of 2013, from 52% in the previous year, the bank’s chief said.
Lhotte was optimistic about the bank’s outlook, saying his institution will avoid past mistakes such as over indebting customers.
BRD said earlier Tuesday its loss widened to RON385 million (EUR86 million) in 2013, from RON332 million a year earlier, amid higher provisions and falling lending activity in the corporate sector.
The bank posted a pretax loss of RON649 million.
BRD’s shares fell by some 5% to RON8.35 in Bucharest following the news. (EUR1=RON4.4779)