In January through September 2011, Erste reported a loss of EUR973 million.
“Erste Group posted a net profit of EUR597.3 million for the first nine months of 2012, performance mainly attributable to solid results in our core markets in Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. A certain degree of stabilization in Romania was another supportive factor,” said Andreas Treichl, CEO of Erste Group Bank AG.
“In Romania, margins rose for the first time in six quarters, while non-performing loss formation also declined,” he said.
The Austrian bank reported an operating profit of EUR2.61 billion in January through September, little changed from EUR2.63 billion in the same period of 2011.
Risk costs decreased 21.2% on the year to EUR1.46 billion, due to declining provisioning levels in most markets, excepting in Romania and Croatia.
In Romania, Erste’s bank Banca Comerciala Romana (BCR), reported net interest income of EUR517.6 million in the first nine months, down 16.8% on the year (or currency-adjusted -16.3%).
Erste said its Romanian operations were again affected by adverse economic developments.
Net interest income declined 18.1% (currency-adjusted: -14.6) to EUR423.7 million. “This development was mainly driven by weak consumer credit demand and narrowing margins on retail and corporate business,” Erste said.
The bank said operating expenses in Romania declined 2.3% on the year (currency-adjusted: +0.9%) to EUR531.1 million at the end of September.
However, additional provisioning requirements in the corporate and real estate business resulted in 49.9% (currency-adjusted: +56.4%) higher risk costs to EUR560.1 million, Erste noted.
Erste Bank owns 93.3% in Romanian bank group Banca Comerciala Romana, or BCR.