Croatian credit institutions profit hits 1.1 bln euro in Jan-Sept

The central bank did not provide comparative figures in the Wednesday report on the performance of the banking system, but a year ago it said that credit institutions registered a profit of 5.0 billion kuna ($726 million/ 664 million euro) in the first nine months of 2022.

The Adriatic country joined the Eurozone in January 2023.

The assets of Croatia’s credit institutions rose 3.0% from end 2022 to 78.2 billion euro at the end of September, the central bank said, citing unaudited preliminary data. Assets increased at most credit institutions, it added.

Profitability indicators improved from the end of 2022, with the return on assets rising to 1.9% from 1.0% and return on equity growing to 16.9% from 8.2%.

The share of non-performing loans (NPLs) in total loans and advances stood at 2.7% at the end of the third quarter of 2023. NPLs fell the most in the portfolio of loans to non-financial corporations where their share dropped to 5.1% from 6.4%. The portfolio of household loans also registered a fall in the amount of NPLs, with their share falling to 4.4% from 5.0%.

The key indicators of banking system capitalisation remained high, with the capital ratio standing at 23.3%, the central bank said. All credit institutions boasted total capital ratios in excess of the minimum prescribed of 8%.

At the end of September, all credit institutions met the prescribed minimum liquidity requirements, with the average liquidity coverage ratio standing at 235.4%, the central bank also said.

($ = 0.913 euro)