Bulgaria's TBI Bank boosts cons net profit 40% y/y in Q1

Revenue in the January-March period leapt by an annual 30% to 58 million euro, mostly due to a 36% rise in net interest income, TBI Bank said in a press release.

The bank's total expenses grew by 21% year-on-year to 27 million euro as a result of continuous investments in new technologies and artificial intelligence. The operating cost-to-income ratio amounted to 46.7% against 50.1% a year earlier.

TBI Bank's loan portfolio widened by 28% on the year to 1.1 billion euro in the three months through March, while deposits jumped by 37% to some 1.2 billion euro. The return on loans stood at 21.7%, resulting in a return on equity of 19.4%.

In its key markets - Bulgaria, Romania and Greece - TBI Bank processed 500,000 loan applications in the three months through March, up 33% from the prior-year period. At the end of March, the bank had approved loans of some 250 million euro in total, marking a 21% increase in annual terms.

The bank expanded its assets by 35% on the year to 1.57 billion euro in the first quarter. TBI Bank was Bulgaria's tenth largest lender by assets among 23 local banks and branches of foreign banks in Bulgaria at the end of March, central bank data showed.

($ = 0.9207 euro)