August 31 (SeeNews) - The combined net profit of Bulgarian banks for the first seven months of the year soared by an annual 48.1% to 909.1 million levs ($516.8 million/464.3 million euro), central bank data showed on Wednesday.
The banks' net interest income rose 2.6% on the year to 1.65 billion levs in the seven-month period, whereas net fee and commission income grew 3.1% to 525.8 million levs, the data showed.
The sector's total net operating revenue grew 6.0% year-on-year to 2.41 billion levs.
The banks' total assets stood at 89.4 billion levs at the end of July, up 5.8% from a year earlier.
The sector's gross loan portfolio edged up 0.4% month-on-month to 55.5 billion levs, while client deposits grew 0.6% to 75.6 billion levs.
A total of 22 banks and 6 branches of foreign banks operate in Bulgaria.
(1 euro=1.95583 levs)