The lender has gone through a mixed period during which the two banks operated separately four months before the merger and five months together as a bank resulted from the merger, according to a statement sent to the Bucharest Stock Exchange.
The loss reported the third quarter is lower than the level reported in the first two quarters of 2017 (RON15.0 million loss in the first quarter, before the merger, and RON11.1 million loss in the second quarter, one month before the merger and two months post-merger), which shows a reduction of the bank’s recurrent loss, as a result of the merger and the measures aimed at cutting applied costs.
The total operating revenue reached RON108.6 million, 2% higher than initially estimated and the operating revenue in the third quarter of 2017 is 24% higher than the revenue reported in the first quarter of 2017. Compared with the year-earlier period, the operating revenue fell 26% on lower yields from its state paper portfolio, which is due to lower interest rates and lower fee income, on the backdrop of a decrease in the number of agencies by 45 units, versus the same period a year before.
Operating costs reached RON120.6 million, 9% lower than initially estimated, 22% lower than in the first quarter of 2017 and 19% lower than in the same period a year before, due to the bank’s reorganization process in the context of the merger and the optimization of the regional unit chain.
The loan portfolio rose 6% compared with the beginning of the year and is 3% higher than initially estimated.