Raiffeisen Becomes Romania's Most Profitable Bank In 2012

Second came Banca Transilvania (TLV.RO), RON320 million, followed by ING Bank, about RON195 million and UniCredit Tiriac, which posted RON177 million net profit.

Those are the only top ten banks by assets that ended 2012 in the black. The only top bank that has yet to announce its results is CEC Bank, but market sources say the state-run lender remained profitable, too. It had posted RON78 million profit in 2011.

Raiffeisen replaced BRD as the number one profit maker, even though its 2012 net income was 3% lower than in 2011 because of the higher provision spending. Raiffeisen is one of the few banks that managed to preserve profitability throughout the entire crisis thanks to some strategic decisions it made before it started.

Banca Transilvania, which turned from a Romanian-owned into a majority foreign-held bank this year following stock market purchases by non-residents, stands out by having climbed to third place by assets, while managing to remain profitable. It posted second-highest profit.

ING, which climbed to eighth position by assets, posted its highest profit ever in Romania, as it kept operating spending in check and net income rose by almost 20%, absorbing the impact of the about 60% increase in risk costs.

The other five major banks posted more than RON2.5 billion losses together, half of which (RON1.2 billion) recorded by BCR, the largest bank by assets. Second highest loss was Volksbank’s, about RON758 million for its Romanian subsidiary, according to the parent bank report in Vienna. BRD, the second largest bank in the country, posted RON332 million loss.

Next in the ranking are ATE Bank (RON253 million) and Banca Romaneasca (RON214 million). Bancpost came out sixth, with RON156 million, according to the report of its majority owner Eurobank in Athens. (EUR1=RON4.3465)

(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)

Bank ranking by 2012 profit*

* CEC did not publish last year’s results, but market sources say it stayed profitable

Bank ranking by 2012 losses

Source: banks