July 30 (SeeNews) - Romania's Banca Comerciala Romana (BCR), part of Austria's Erste Group, said on Friday that its net profit rose by an annual 38.5% to 690.8 million lei ($167 million/ 140 million euro) in the first half of 2021.
The higher net profit was due to improved operating performance boosted by a higher business volume and due to lower risk costs allocation, the lender said in a press release communicating its first-half unaudited consolidated results.
BCR's operating result rose by an annual 12.7% to 1.012 billion lei in the first half of 2021 on the back of higher operating income along with lower operating expenses.
"We continue to evolve at the economic and societal level, and 2021 came to show us that flexibility helps us grow at all levels – digitalisation, improved customer experience and financial education. We are now seeing a recovery in the economy and a favourable context, we are seeing new projects expanding and we are
committed to support sustainable initiatives," BCR CEO Sergiu Manea said.
First-half net interest income edged up by 0.7% on the year to 1.196 billion lei impacted by higher loan and deposit volumes in both retail and corporate, partly offset by lower market rates.
Net fee and commission income increased by an annual 21.4% during January-June, to 383.8 million lei, on the back of higher transaction business compared to lower business activity and measures implemented for supporting clients during the pandemic
context.
The non-performing loan (NPL) ratio decreased to 4.3% at the end of June 2021 from 4.5% at the end of 2020, reflecting the positive trend in loans to customers. NPL provision coverage ratio stood at 125.3% as of end-June 2021.
The solvency ratio for BCR Bank standalone, according to the capital requirements regulations, stood at 21.5% as of June 2021, well above the regulatory requirements of Romania's central bank.
Loan volume grew by 4.3% year-on-year to 44.8 billion lei in the first half of 2021, while deposits edged down by 0.3% to 64.7 billion lei.
In 2020, BCR's net profit rose to 814 million lei from 593 million lei in the previous year, due to a strong loan growth and improved operating performance.
(1 euro=4.9198 lei)