It said its gross profit increased by RON89 million, to RON389 million in the first half, due to a RON177 million growth in revenues and a RON2 million decline is risk costs, which offset a RON93 growth in operating expenses.
Net loans increased 16% on the year in the first half, to RON32.1 billion. The bank said 43% of loans were loans to companies and 57% were retail loans. It said lending to small and medium-sized companies grew 26% on the year in the first half, while loans to individuals grew 10%.
Deposits grew 26% on the year in the first half, to RON29.3 billion.
The bank’s non-performing loans (NPL) rate stood at 2.8% at the end of June, down 0.6 percentage points compared with end-June 2017, and risk provisioning costs grew 5%, to RON41 million.
The bank had revenues of RON875 million in the first half, 25% higher on the year. It said net income from interests increased 21% on the year.
Its operating expenses grew 26% on the year, to RON455 million, mainly due to relocation to a new headquarters and accelerated investments in IT upgrades.
The bank had 1.2 million active customers at the end of June, 155,000 more compared with the same period last year.