The banking system’s net profit was higher in the first quarter of 2019, RON1.8 billion, and in the first quarter of 2018 it stood at RON1.77 billion. The Romanian banking system posted RON6.4 billion profit in 2019, 7.2% lower than the record high profit of RON6.9 billion in 2018.
Lending increased by 7.1% to RON272.6 billion in the first quarter, while Romania’s economy grew by 2.4%.
Some indicators could start to deteriorate in the second quarter, due to the effects of the coronavirus crisis. Lending slowed down in April. Private lending was down in April compared with March.
Return on assets and return on equity stood at 1.27% and 11.68% at the end of the first quarter, lower than in the first quarter of 2019.
The net profits of the top three lenders reached RON922.3 million in the first quarter of 2020, accounting for more than half of the entire banking system’s profit. The top five banks posted more than RON1.1 billion profit, about 70% of the net profit of the entire system.
Banca Transilvania, the largest lender in Romania, posted the second highest profit in the first quarter of 2020, RON261 million.
Top profit maker was BCR, the second largest lender in the country, with RON428.3 million.
Third most profitable was BRD-SocGen, RON233 million.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)