Total costs increased 11%, to RON416 million, mainly due to investments in technology, business applications for clients and the development of the bank’s IT platforms.
The cost/revenue ratio improved slightly compared with the same period last year, to 56% from 57%, the bank said in a statement.
Lending increased 21% on the year, to RON13.15 billion, and deposits grew 24%, to RON16.46 billion.
At the end of September, the bank’s market share increased to 5.7% from 4.6% in terms of lending, and to 6.7% from 5.6% in terms of deposits.
Over the past 12 months, the bank’s lending activity in Romanian grew 43%, to RON7.4 billion, with balanced contributions from the retail and corporate segments. SME financing contributed 25% to lending growth, the bank said.
Dutch ING Group posted a net profit of EUR4.19 billion in the first nine months, due to solid performance on the retail banking segment, lower risk costs and increased lending.