If banks continue to post comparable profit to the first half in the coming quarters, 2018 might end with a record profit for the banking system, about RON7 billion.
The banks’ profit in the first half is over 30% higher than their net profit in the corresponding period of last year, Romania’s central bank preliminary data show. Overall, the 2017 profit of the system stood at RON5.3 billion in 2017.
Return on assets and return on equity stood at 1.66% and 15.71% at the end of the first half, higher than in 2017 and close the 2007-2008 levels recorded during times of economic boom and lending surge.
The net profit of the to three banking groups in the country – Banca Transilvania, BCR and BRD-SocGen stood at more than RON2 billion in the first half, almost 60% of the entire system’s.
Romania’s banking system profit hit a record high of RON1.77 billion at the end of the first quarter and doubled by mid-year.(EUR1=RON4.6474)
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)